"Fly" at Florida Studio Theatre

In May 1939, then-Senator Harry S. Truman helped sponsor a bill allowing African-American pilots to serve in the Civilian Pilot Training Program.  This bill led to the establishment of an all black fighter squadron known as the Tuskegee Airmen.  (The pilots trained near Tuskegee, Alabama.)  "Fly" tells the story of four fictional men who participated in this program. It is a vivid portrayal, and a show well worth seeing.

I was captivated from the moment I entered FST's Gomertz Theater.The set was fabulous, with six cloud-filled screens representing the sky. World War II-era music helped set the mood.

As the play opens, Chet, now an old-timer, is thinking back to his years as an airman. Within moments we are introduced to his fellow trainees. There's Oscar, a "race man" who signed up to show the world that African Americans are as good as anyone else. WW is the consummate ladies' man who joined to impress a particularly hard-to-get woman. J. Allen is from the British West Indies and grew up with a father who ran to the airfield whenever a plane came in. And Chet is a wet-behind-the-ears 18 year old who is the only trained pilot in the group.

Over the next 90 minutes, we followed the men from their initial meeting with their training sargeant (who is anything but supportive of the program) through some tough battles. I particularly loved the scene when the flight instructor took the newbie pilots up--one by one--for their first flights. The instructor sat in a chair behind the pilot, and they veered right and left and up and down as the clouds moved on the screens around them. There was a real sense of movement, and you could feel the men's excitement as they took to the sky. (The landings were another thing all together.)

From the opening scene, the action is moved along with the assistance of an incredibly strong tap dancer wearing fatigues. When my friend Paul and I talked about the play later, we both confessed that we were a bit concerned about how the dancing would fit into the production.  Would it overwhelm the play and become distracting?  The device was used judiciously and effectively, though.  (Interestingly, the name of the tap dancing character is Tap Griot.  A "griot" is a member of a West African caste whose function is to keep an oral history of a village or tribe by entertaining through storytelling, music or dance.)

"Fly" was commissioned in 2007 for the Lincoln Center Education program. Each summer, Lincoln Center Institute brings hundreds of educators around the country to New York for "in-depth educational workshops designed to maximize imagination in the classroom."  The Institute gives educators ways in which to use the arts to bring subjects like history and science to life.  I can only imagine how much fun everyone from the LCI instructors to the educators to the students had with "Fly."

I haven't seen many productions at Florida Studio Theatre, but if "Fly" is representative of the caliber of its shows, I will be spending a lot more time there. It's a well-written, well-acted, engaging show that made me laugh and cry and think. In fact, my curiosity has been piqued about the Tuskegee Airmen and the movie of the same name (co-written by Trey Ellis, who co-wrote "Fly") is now in my Amazon watch list.  In my book, that stacks up to a great production.

"Fly" will be playing at Florida Studio Theatre through April 4.   Don't miss it.

Meeting Punta Gorda's Finance Department

My fear

I came prepared for the Citizens' Academy Finance Department session with not one, but two, bottles of Diet Coke in my bag.  What can I say?  I had visions of a sleep-inducing discussion of budgetary line items given by folks with slide rulers tucked into their pockets.  Instead, I found myself fully engaged as Dave Drury and his team talked about the scope of the work they do to keep Punta Gorda in the black.

The reality --Sharon Knippenberg, Dave Drury and Kristin Simeon

Dave started off with a discussion of the City's investment policy that brought me back to my days as a lawyer. They take a SLY approach to investing (with SLY standing for safety, liquidity and yield, in that order).  The State sets basic parameters for permissible investments which the City then tweaks.  In general, the "prudent man" standard is used (i.e., the level of care that men of "prudence, discretion and intelligence" exercise with respect to their own affairs).  Orange County, California's bankruptcy continues to serve as a cautionary tale for governmental investment authorities everywhere, and you will be happy to learn that Punta Gorda's own investment policy is very plain vanilla.

We learned how the City matches debt issuances with revenue streams (hence the importance of the 1% sales tax) and that the City never issues debt for non-capital items.  I didn't realize that Punta Gorda has a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) whose focus is projects that rebuild public spaces.  The Herald Court parking garage is the largest of these projects (and accounts for most of the outstanding $18MM in CRA debt).

We talked about fund accounting, which means that each City activity is accounted for like a discrete business. Services such as fire, police code enforcement and city administration are funded through the General Fund whose monies come from taxes, intergovernmental revenues, etc.

There are several other types of funds, but it was the Special Revenue Funds that caught my attention.  These Funds are run with monies received from special taxes or other earmarked revenues sources and include the Canal Management Fund, Community Redevelopment Block Grant, and the 1% Local Sales Tax Fund. The newest Special Revenue Fund relates to the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program for which the City of Punta Gorda is the "host entity."  The National Estuary Program develops conservation and management plans for estuaries of national significance, including Charlotte Harbor.  CHNEP's oyster reef restoration project launched last year with the assistance of many volunteers in our community.  (I had the pleasure of reporting on the project for Florida Weekly and putting together a few oyster mats myself.  To read more about the project, click here.)

Our morning sped by, with Controller Sharon Knippenberg keeping a close track of time.  You can tell that she runs a tight ship!  Other areas covered included budgeting and procurement.  As always, emphasis was put on the volume of information available through the City's website (which you can get to by clicking here).  And, as always, we were encouraged to spread the word that citizen participation in the financial planning process is encouraged.

I came away once again impressed with the caliber of the people working for our city and their enthusiasm for and commitment to their work.  With each session, I feel more appreciative of what a special place Punta Gorda is to live (and I was pretty darn appreciative to begin with).  Our next session will introduce us to the world of utilities, complete with a tour of the water treatment plant.  Stay tuned for my report.  

Introducing Southwest Florida

Although I moved to Punta Gorda almost five years ago, my friend Ellen had never made it for a visit.  So I was thrilled when she finally booked a 48 hour get away.  She would have been happy just sitting on my lanai looking at the water and enjoying the warm breeze on her face.  (She did, after all, leave a foot of snow behind in New Jersey.)  I had other ideas, though, on how to introduce her to life in Southwest Florida.

We eased into the visit with some time at the Tiki Bar on Friday afternoon.  (A selfie to be sent to her kids and husbands was a must.)  It's hard to look at this picture without thinking of the expression, "The future's so bright, we've gotta wear shades!"

After a quick dinner, we were off for our evening's entertainment -- a concert by Valerie Sneade.  The venue was a bit odd -- the Kings Gate retirement community clubhouse (complete with, well, lots of very retired people).  I have to admit that if I had actually understood where we were going, I would have chosen something else -- and we would have missed a fun show.  Sneade has a great voice and she definitely knows how to work the audience.  Her band -- led by musical director Michelle Kasnofsky -- was fabulous.  Sneade and her Turning Leaf Productions are definitely worth putting on your radar screen.

Saturday found us off to one of my favorite destinations -- Asolo Repertory Theatre -- to see the Tony-nominated "Good People" by David Lindsay-Abaire.  (If Lindsay-Abaire's name sounds familiar, he also wrote "Rabbit Hole," a play that was made into a movie starring Nicole Kidman.)  I had heard great things about the show in general and the Asolo's production specifically, and we weren't disappointed. The play deals with issues of class and relationships through the lens of a group of "Southies" who grew up together outside Boston. There's lots of humor, but lots to think about as well.  The cast was terrific, with Denise Cormier debuting at the Asolo in the role of Margie and Tim Grimm (who wrote the music for last year's production of "Grapes of Wrath") as Mike. If you're in the area, the show runs through March 1. I highly recommend it.

After a quick dinner at Owen's Fish Camp, we were off to a screening of "The Good Lie" at the Ringling School of Art and Design followed by a discussion with Aaron Osborne, production designer for the film.  The movie follows the journey of a group of "Lost Boys of Sudan" who travel from the Sudan to Kansas City via the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.  Although the story is fictitious, it is representative of the experiences of the estimated 20,000 boys who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War.  Some of the children walked more than 1,000 miles to reach safety.  The Kakuma Refugee Camp still houses more than 150,000 refugees.

While Reese Witherspoon got top billing in the movie, it is actually the four "lost boys" (one of whom is a girl) who are the stars.  I didn't learn until the credits rolled that all four were Sudanese refugees in real life and that two had been child soldiers.

Set design in progress

It was fascinating to hear Aaron Osborne speak about his work. The production designer is responsible for the overall visual look of the film, including setting, props, costume and location.  We learned that, amazingly, the original budget for the film did not include funds for even a visit to Kakuma Refugee Camp, much less any filming abroad.  Although Osborne is known for working on a shoestring budget, he convinced the money guys that it would be virtually impossible to recreate African savannahs and sunsets on a lot in Atlanta. Osborne talked about the painstaking detail that goes into creating an authentic portrayal of a place and time.  For this film, one of the most challenging tasks was obtaining rights to use the United Nations' logo on the tents in the camp.

As we headed home from Sarasota, Ellen commented that it was going to be hard to go back to New York.  She wasn't referring to the weather, but to the number of fun and interesting cultural events in our area.  Mission accomplished.

Citizens Academy Visits the Fire Department

Photo by Bruce Tompkins

The Citizens Academy students had been promised lots of toys during their visit to the Punta Gorda Fire Department, and Chief Ray Briggs and his team did not disappoint.  But before we got to show and tell, we learned a lot about how the PG Fire Department operates and what sets it apart from its counterparts.  Here are some of the highlights:

--The Department gets approximately 4,000 calls/year, 70% of which are for medical emergencies. The average response time for anywhere within PG's city limits is 4 1/2 minutes.

Photo by Bruce Tompkins

--Each truck out on call has a firefighter who has been certified in advanced life support (i.e., an EMT).
--Every firefighter has to pass a swim test to join the department and will eventually become certified as a rescue diver.  All trucks have dive equipment on board.  (This capability isn't called on very frequently.)
--Land lines are better for calling 911 because your location can be tracked more accurately.
--The Fire Department operates a Red Dot program.  Citizens who register receive a magnetic pouch in which to put medical info, DNR instructions, etc. (The pouch then goes on your refrigerator.) Participants place a red dot on their front door that firefighters look for when they enter your home.  As Chief Briggs said, "It can talk if you can't."

--The Fire Department's Operation Medicine Cabinet has taken off.  Residents can drop unwanted medication in a box at the Fire Department that is almost as secure as a missile silo.  The program ensures that the medication does not get into either the water system or the wrong hands.  In the program's first year, more than a ton of drugs were dropped off for incineration.
--The Department also operates a Home-Generated Sharps Recovery Program for the safe disposal of used needles.  Both Operation Medicine Cabinet and the Sharps Recovery Program are run out of the Public Safety Building located at 1410 Tamiami Trail.
--The Fire Department's bike medic program facilitates quick response times at community events like the upcoming Wine & Jazz Festival.  (Click here to read the article I wrote last year about the program for Florida Weekly.)
--Fire Department personnel hold a CPR training course on the fourth Wednesday of each month. They will also take their show on the road to your condo association or business.
--The PG Fire Department has an Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating of three (with one being the best and ten the worst). Make sure your insurance company knows this as it might reduce your premiums!

Operations Chief Gibbs
and Chief Briggs

When we headed out to the garage, we broke into two groups.  Chief Briggs and Operations Chief Holden Gibbs showed us some of the equipment that's maintained on the fire trucks (including an automated cardiopulmonary resuscitation device and the air packs they wear when going into burning buildings). I took advantage of the opportunity to don the Chief's jacket and helmet.  The complete gear (with air pack) weighs approximately 70 pounds.

Modeling firefighter gear

(Note that I am holding the helmet here not to tip it to say hello, but to keep it on my head.  Chief Briggs' old-fashioned leather helmet weights close to 18 pounds on its own and I could barely hold up my head. Lighter weight versions are used by the rest of the team.)

Our last activity of the class was learning how to use a fire extinguisher.  Fire Marshall Jennifer Malnar taught us the acronym PASS (point, aim, squeeze and spray). A propane fire was lit in a fire pit equivalent and anyone who wanted to could use an extinguisher to put it out.  With a bit of coaching, my first -- and hopefully only -- attempt at fire fighting was successful.  I have to admit that I would have had no idea how to actually use one of the fire extinguishers in my home -- and that when I checked them later that night I can't tell if they have expired.  The Fire Department's outreach program will make a house call to check out your equipment (and change batteries in your smoke detectors), and a visit to my home is obviously in order.

It was an interesting evening that gave me a better appreciation of the scope of services provided by our Fire Department.  Chief Briggs and his team encouraged us to get the word out, particularly about their community outreach programs.  I plan to speak with my condo association about scheduling a time for Fire Department personnel to come out to Harbor Landing.  There's nothing to lose -- and potentially everything to gain.