Local history on display during tour of homes

Some of Miami Springs’ most elegant and historic homes and sites were on display last Saturday for the long-established tradition of the Holiday Tour of Homes. The event, sponsored annually by the Miami Springs Historical Society, is held to benefit historic preservation. This year there were three private residences and two landmark institutions on the tour. For $20, members of the public were able to get small-group tours by “greeters” at each site and view the beautiful interiors all dressed up for Christmas while brushing up on some interesting local history. The first stop on the tour was Fair Havens Center. Built in 1926, the Pueblo Revival-style building has been a hotel; a sanitarium owned by Dr. John Kellogg of Kellogg cereal fame; and a rest camp during World War II. It is currently used as an extended care facility. Also included in the tour right across the street was Grace Lutheran Church, completed in the early 1950’s. The building is noteworthy for its architectural beauty

Funtastic Fridays for Kids at Anniversary Park

Funtastic Fridays for Kids is a fun -- and free -- way for you and the family to start the weekend. Join Mama Clown and friends and enjoy a bounce house, face painting, food, movies and more.

Anniversary Park, Hollywood Boulevard at 20th Avenue, 5-9 p.m. every Friday. Visit www.DowntownHollywood.com for details or call 954-921-3016 for more information.

At 90, artist continues to paint, find beauty in the Everglades

Ever since Sam Vinikoff laid his eyes on the Everglades, he hasn't stopped painting the national park.

``You can't get bored of painting it,'' says Vinikoff, a London transplant, whose work hangs in galleries today and has amassed quite a following throughout the years. ``There's always something new to see when you go there.''

At 90, and battling severe arthritis, Vinikoff, who lives just north of Coral Gables, still manages to pay homage to nature -- only with a painting brush instead of pen.

A brilliant impression of Claude Monet

I want my house to look like this. I want Claude Monet's luscious yellow dining room. I want his green Japanese bridges. I want his water lilies in bloom.

Others have said it, but it's true: Visiting Giverny is like walking into a Monet painting.

Monet was a master artist of the French Impressionism era, and this village 45 miles northwest of Paris was his home from 1883 until his death in 1926. Giverny is not where Monet did all of his work, but it is where he did his most iconic work -- the water lily paintings. These gardens and this house still reflect the artist's taste, sensibilities, wishes and passions.

Family's saga over drywall ends happily

This week, the only smell coming from the Suhajcik family home in Boynton Beach was the smell of fresh paint.

For a second time, the family of six was moving into their home, settling back into a house they had made into their home 2 ½ years ago. Back then, they assumed the strange smell in their house was a combination of new carpet, new furniture and new paint, and attributed their youngest son's constant colds to interaction with his day-care playmates.

They never connected the smell, the colds, the broken air conditioner, the temperamental appliances and the blackening of the coin collection Gary Suhajcik started more than 40 years ago until their builder, GL Homes, told them their 6,000-square foot home was made with Chinese drywall.