Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Guide
Thursday, June 8, 1961, page 1 (of 16)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
THE GUIDE
● RED-BIRD ● KENDALL ● SUNILAND ● WEST DADE ● WEST MIAMI ● SOUTH MIAMI ● WESTCHESTER ● CHAPMAN FIELD ● WESTWOOD LAKE Vol. 2, No. 52 Thursday, June 8, 1961
A Southwest Record? Up! Up! Up! When Tony Plants a Tomato, Stand Back
—Guide Photo by Raymond Lang TONY LATORRE OFFERS PROOF By MAURICE LABELLE Correspondent You can't touch Tony Latorre's tomatoes with a 10-foot pole. Tony's plants are 18 feet high and still growing. Back in Ohio, where Tony lived most of his life before he moved to an unincorporated island surrounded by South Miami at 6332 SW 43rd St., he grew beans 45 feet high. How does he do it? "It's a secret I'm a notta gona tell," said Tony in a heavy Italian accent that belies the fact he has lived in this country for 65 years after leaving Calabria, Italy, with his parents at the age of three. "I'ma gonna getta patent," said Tony proudly. The seeds for his high flying tomato plant, he explained, originally came from the Pope's garden in the Vatican. But Tony, who prides himself in never having been inside either a church or jail, places more weight on his own techniques than the idea that the seeds may have come from consecrated ground. "I work allamy life since I was three years old," said Tony. "I'va done everything." STILL GOING His amazing plants have produced more than 200 juicy, inverted bell-shaped Italian type tomatoes since last fall and more are ripening all the time. But the tomatoes are only one thing. Tony said he had one squash 76 inches long and he had one dangling from a pole that was nearly three feet long and shaped like a baseball bat. His yard is alive with all types of exotic plants from Italy, South America and Japan. A brother, Frank Latorre, who lives in South America, sent Tony the "Jack in the beanstalk" type beans from Japan that towered 45 feet above the Ohio landscape. One of his pepper plants is three years old and still producing. Several coffee trees will soon provide Tony with a fresh cup of coffee or two. "But wana musta picka de bean before she poppa like de corn," said Tony. Otherwise the seed is scattered all over. Tony took over his property last year and found some of the existing plants badly neglected. Soon, with the magic touch that causes everything on the Latorre property to reach skyward, the plants waxed strong and Tony had his own favorite brands of Argentine corn, Mexican peppers and other plants thriving. After a while, Tony, the immigrant boy who has never been to school but who can speak Italian, French, Spanish and English (notta so good) relented a bit and gave up a few secrets. "The earth isa too sour," said Tony. To sweeten it, Tony pours See Tony, Page 8
Metro May Okay SM Garbage Deal
By ED KNIGHT Correspondent It appears that South Miami within the next several months may give Metro a hand in the collection of garbage. A deal offered to Metro in March by South Miami for the municipality to collect garbage and trash in a vast area west of South Miami probably will be accepted by the county. The Guide learned this week that recommendations from two separate bodies for the city to take over this service have been made to Metro's new manager Irving G. McNayr. McNayr, on the strength of these two recommendations and his own thoughts on the condition of Metro's Waste Collection Department, is expected to recommend to the Metro Commission that the South Miami deal be accepted. LARGE AREA If the city's deal is accepted — and there is every reason to believe that it will be — the city will take over the collection of garbage and trash in an area bordered by Red Road on the east, the Coral Gables Waterway on the north, the Palmetto Expressway on the west and Snapper Creek on the south. The deal was offered to Metro at a time when the county was without a county manager. Metro's Planning Advisory Board gave some thought to the matter and came up with the recommendation that the deal would be a good one for the county. Also recommending acceptance of the offer was Metro's Waste Collection Department, already up to its neck in complaints for poor service or a complete lack of trash collection. The next step in the unique procedure is for the county manager to recommend to the Metro Commission that the deal be accepted. ONE QUESTION Only question remaining to be decided is how much should be charged county residents for the service. South Miami, which gives better waste collection service than the county, charges only $25 a home. The county charges $28. What are the county residents under the new setup to be billed? South Miami wants only $25 a home for the service. (See SOUTH, page 2)
WEST of the City Limits with Ron Levitt
There's been much talk lately about the big increase of bus service which the suburban areas of Dade will get once the transfer of the bus ownership from private sources to Metro takes place. This, of course, is something that sits well with the suburban dweller. Lack of convenient bus service to the area west of Coral Gables has long been a sore spot to the suburbanite. The two bus runs along the Tamiami Trail from downtown Miami end at the city limits. Bus routes, along Coral Way and Bird Road are so few and far between and run such a zig z course that they serve very few suburban areas in Our Town. And on other major east-west cross streets — Miller Road; Kendall Drive, etc. — service is practically nil. But Metro says all this is going to change once they've taken over. But, according to the latest news, suburbanites will still have to wait a long, long t e before they'll have adequate bus service. First of all, Miami's bus union is preparing a long court battle to prevent the sale of the buses to the county government. Secondly, IF and WHEN the court hassle is over and Metro should win, it will take years to get the money together to pu on new buses and hire new drivers for the suburban areas, especially when the county will have to dig deep into its resources to come up with the $5,700,000 for the bus system. So, if anyone is deciding whether to buy a second family car or wait for better bus service, they'd have a shorter wait even at today's prices — by saving for the car. ★ ★ ★ AMONG THE NATIVES: Miami Chapter of the National Office Management Assn. has named Mary Jane Ames, a Coral Gables High student, as "Business Student of the Year." Paul Samorisky, business education teacher at Southwest High School, was named "Business Teacher of the Year" by the same group... "Butch" Tractenberg and Paula Kubilskis were named "prince" and "princess" of the 8th Grade at West Miami Junior High School. They got their crowns at the school's Starlight Coronation. Southwest resident George Vickery, formerly promotion chief at WTVJ, is leaving town to accept the promotion managership of an Augusta, Ga., TV station... Norman Imber is the new president of the Men's Club at Coral Way Jewish Center; Mrs. Mary (Lee) Weiner heads the Center's Sisterhood. Two Southwest mothers — Mrs. Leslie Bosley and Mrs. William Gill — are team managers in the Tropical Park Khoury Baseball League. They are the only two women managers in the 43-team association which play at Tropical Park. Players in the league are from 7 to 17 years old. The congregation at Shenandoah Presbyterian Church have a right to be proud. Their church led the nation in per capita gifts to the current expense program among churches of 1,000 members or more in the General Assembly. That made them first among 131 churches. A move by civic groups to get better school access along Coral Way for students going to West Miami Junior High School has fallen flat. When county officials were queried on the subject, the civic groups get the answer: NO MONEY AVAILABLE!!
New Offices For VIPs
A $72,000, two-story professional building is scheduled to open today (Thursday) at 2903 Salzedo St. Leases are available for office space on the second floor, and on the first floor seven of nine offices have already been leased. Name of the structure will be the V.I.P. Building and is owned by the V.I.P. Management Company, Inc., headed by accountant Irene Rutledge and realtor, Vincent Chilla. Miss Rutledge will have her office in the building. Others who have leased are Brennan Construction Co. and Housing Co., Farrell Insurance Co. and International Insurance Co.
You're Invited
Want to meet the new Dade County Manager? Want to find out the answer to all those questions about Metro that have been bothering you? Then you'll want to attend a meeting Friday at 8 p.m. at Cutler Ridge Shopping Center's community building. Irving McNayr, the Metro manager, will be there at the invitation of the South Dade Council of Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce.
Edgar Cox New President Of West Miami Rotarians
EDGAR E. COX JR. Edgar E. Cox Jr., an attorney who has lived in the area for 11 years, is the new president of the Rotary Club of West Miami. He succeeds William N. Meyer. Other officers chosen were David T. Kennedy, re-elected vice president; Alexander Fabri, secretary; Harold Riggins, treasurer; and Carl J. Irwin, sergeant at arms. Directors are Joseph DiBartolomeo, Robert H. Struthers, William S. Locke, I. L. Balkcom III, Mervin G. Fessler and Milton S. Wallace. Committee chairmen are Fred W. Salisbury, William N. Meyer, John K. MacLaren, Richard K. Campbell, James A. Ward and James G. Dusch. The officers will be installed Friday at a banquet at Coral Gables Country Club.
Pool owners hdqtrs. Chemicals.
Patio items. Sun n' Fun Pool n' Patio, CE 5-7333. —Adv.
Professional packers
and wrappers for shipping or mailing. "The Barefoot Mailman", 234 Valencia Ave., C. Gables-adv
THE GUIDE
TIMES & GUIDE CIRCULATION 40,095 Published by Gables Publishing Co. 364 Sevilla Ave., P.O. Box 580, Coral Gables 34, Fla. Phone HI 3-1661 ROLFE NEILL......Editor ROBERT SLANE......Adv. Mgr. Distributed free by carrier each week to homes. Mail subscription, $3 yearly.