Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Wednesday, May 19, 1976, page 6 (of 35)
The page
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opinion
| editorials | commentary | letters
Spirit of '76?
What if someone gave a Bicentennial birthday party and no one came? Sounds downright unpatriotic, implausible and unlikely — but it may happen. Six months ago, a group of homeowners in Kendale Lakes began making plans for a community get-together in honor of America's 200th birthday. Now the group has dwindled to a mere handful of patriots, and their spirits are low. Quite unexpectedly, they haven't been able to stir up their neighbors, failing to get the involvement on which their plans so much counted. "It is terrible that people can be so apathetic toward this country's 200th birthday," one organizer lamented. "They'd much rather be basking by their pools with a martini in hand than join in a community celebration." That cynical note is a sad one, the result of a first-hand encounter with public indifference. But despite sagging spirits, the cause should not be abandoned. There's enough time left for patriotism to grip Kendale Lakes and transform the plans of a few into the actions of many. Get with it folks. You won't be around come the Tricentennial.
RVs have a place
There's a Great Debate raging in Coral Gables over whether citizens should be allowed to keep campers and/or recreational vehicles on their property. City law now says "no way" but there are many Gableites that would like to see the law changed to allow for the rise in popularity of such family-fun oriented vehicles. But those who are pro-camper may have to camp out on commissioners' lawns lobbying for their cause. Signs of stiff opposition to relaxing the camper law are very visible. "They (RVs) don't belong in our city," sniffed Planning Board member Charles George at a recent meeting on the subject. "In my opinion," intoned City Attorney Charlie Spooner, "these vehicles compare to cheap signs... and should not be seen." You'd think the discussion involved adult book stores, not recreational vehicles. Coral Gables no doubt owes a great deal of its residential beauty to its restrictive zoning code, but there's a point where strict zoning may begin to cramp the lifestyle of many city residents. We favor amending existing law to accommodate campers. Times are changing, even in Coral Gables, and there's a good deal of catching up to be done.
the gables publishing company
serving south dade and coral gables since 1926 jim storey general manager bea moss managing editor gary gibbs news editor carole myers advertising manager bill mc hugh circulation address: 4627 ponce de leon blvd coral gables, fla. 33146 telephone: 666-7981
It takes an old friend to put your problems in perspective
bea moss | I paid a visit to the doctor this week for the first time in a couple of years. I should have gone sooner but probably wouldn't have gone at all if an advertising campaign hadn't told me I might have a time bomb strapped to my chest. In this business, hypertension is usually rampant and sure enough, I learned my blood pressure was rampant. Anyway, I felt depressed, and moaned and groaned about the price of pills and felt lousy just in general. That very same afternoon, a lovely lady I know whom I haven't seen in years, stopped by the office. * * * Mame Bennett, who has lived in Coral Gables since she moved to Florida in 1964, which is about when I first met her, has weathered just about every kind of storm imaginable. And yet, at 74 years of age, after more than her share of tragedies, is still on the go, still cheerful, still involved and still searching for the good in life. Mame, whose first husband was a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun for 20 years, was a reporter herself for a weekly paper in Baltimore. "I wrote only about good news," Mame says proudly. She and her husband became the parents of Jerry Chapin, in 1926. Jerry joined the Navy when he was 18 and served in the Pacific theater. The year after World War II ended, Jerry was struck with polio and spent months in the hospital. Finally, confined to a wheelchair, he ended up at the University of Miami on the G.I. Bill. After taking every course he could that was given on the ground floor at the university, he took a class in puppetry and even though to this day he's in a wheelchair, he has, along with his life Lee, achieved fame as a puppet maker and puppeteer. * * * Not too long after Jerry was born, Mame's husband died of cancer. She married again and she and her husband Richard Bennett had two children, Betsy and Dick. They both contracted polio. Betsy is now a social worker and Dick recently received a PhD in criminology. In 1944 Mame lived in New York where she worked on a weekly newspaper, Tydings... good news, of course, and she and the children stayed there for six years. In 1951 they moved to Washington because Mame's husband was transferred. She discovered she had cancer. She went through months of therapy and at the same time volunteered to work at A Home from the Incurable. Mame's second husband died of lung cancer in 1955. She sold their home in Washington and moved to a home in Ocean City, N.J. where she wrote for the weekly Sentinel Ledger. In 1957 she sold that home to go back to Washington to work for the Bureau of National Affairs where for two weeks she was a proofreader and then stepped up to an editorship. She suffered a heart attack in 1961, but difficult to keep down, she recovered from that and continued with her job as editor and now, author. The year she decided to move to Florida, her son Jerry, driving in his specially built, three wheel car, was hit by another automobile and lay in a hospital seriously injured while his wife was awaiting the birth of their second child. * * * Weekly newspapers being her "thing," Mame found her way over to The Times-Guide where she wrote columns on a freelance basis. She also wrote for another publication, The Miamian, on a commission basis. Author Mame has written a number of books, topics ranging from Christmas to the story of the U.S. flag. She's now got a book in the works. Recently suffering another bout with cancer, Mame still finds time to help others. Every Tuesday night for the past seven years she has aided in HEP (Highschool Equivalency Program) at the University of Miami. * * * But the biggest thrill she has had in recent years, came with the postman last week. While having her eyes examined some time ago, she thought about the gift of sight and of donating her eyes after she dies. And she put her thoughts in words. Although she had written poetry for her family before, she never thought of writing it for anyone else. The poem was entered in a contest sponsored by the Women's Press Club of New York City, of which Mame has been a member for years, and she won and is now official Poetess for the club for two years. The poem reads: Anyone can a benefactor be, And will the priceless gift of sight. How many souls this thought might make a warming glow amid the chill of death? "I can give sight!" and you will say, "Because of me, sometime tomorrow, Someone else will see Because my sight goes on in someone else's head, This is a sort of immortality." With what joy my eyes have seen A million sights for sixty years or more, To think I can bestow the gift of sight, A gift a king would pay a ransom for Although I am not rich, I can bequeath my sight, That others too, may see the glories God has made and worship him, like me. Like Him who made the blind to see, This selfsame gift He's passing on to me So miracles can happen every day, If you but 'will' your eyes away. * * * Somehow my problems don't seem so big.