Daughters establish service award at Columbus High to honor father’s memory

Delfin J. Diaz would be very proud of his daughters. He was a man who lived with a great passion to help others and now they are doing the same, in his memory.

Hope Diaz and Christina Diaz Gonzalez announced their commitment in October to award $10,000 each year to a Christopher Columbus High School student based on service work.

They said their father, who died in March 2020, would want them to do something meaningful to leave a lasting legacy.

From his early beginnings in Cuba where he attended a Catholic Marist school and became a “Columbus Squire,” to his time in Miami after immigrating as a teenager with Operation Pedro Pan, through adulthood as a husband and father: His daughters said he always remained active both in his parish and community.

His giving spirit served as an inspiration to all who knew him, especially to them. They also knew how proud he was that his grandsons attended Columbus, a Marist school that as part of its mission aims to develop a love for service in its students

“We, along with our mother Esperanza Diaz, are so excited to launch these awards in our father’s name and are proud to support Christopher Columbus High School’s mission of encouraging students to make service a part of their lives,” the sisters said.

In addition to the annual $10,000 Delfin J. Diaz Marist Service Award, thesisters have also committed to awarding a member of the Columbus Squires Club with a $1,000 Squire of the Year Award.

Under the supervision of the school’s Director of Service Learning, Brother Al Rivera, students will go through an application/interview process with a committee that will choose the winner.

“We are so grateful to Christina and Hope for supporting our school and for the generous aid that they will be providing to our students,” said Thomas Kruczek, CCHS President.

“They are certainly following in their father’s footsteps with this charitable initiative. Delfin would be very proud of them.”

Christmas play to help Feeding South Florida

Homestead performance group What if Works, with the support of the Homestead Center for the Arts, invites the public to join actors and the director for an in-person screening of Les Standiford’s “The Man Who Invented Christmas.”

First published in 2008, “The Man Who Invented Christmas” was made into a film in 2018 starring Christopher Plummer as Scrooge. The following year, WIW developed what was intended to be a live, costumed stage reading of Standiford’s stage adaptation.

However, when the pandemic struck, WIW quickly reinvented “The Man Who Invented Christmas” using cameras and green screens with actors self-recording remotely. Paul Steinsland did the editing using 19th-century virtual backdrops.

You can now experience the live version at 3 p.m., Dec. 5, 18 N. Krome Ave., Homestead. Admission is a donation to aid Feeding South Florida. For reservations call 786-650-2073, and learn more at www.seminoletheatre.org

Symphonic Band is back with free concerts

“Happy days are here again” is the theme of the Greater Miami Symphonic Band in its first live concert after a 19-month hiatus due to the pandemic. During that time, the volunteer member band has presented nine free virtual concerts for the public.

“We thought there could be a possibility that the GMSB would not exist again,” said Alan Wolfe, principal trumpet, secretary, and member since 1980.

“But through the persistence of our president Thom Proctor, and the immense effort and talent of Susie Blank Wolfe, chairman of the board and a string bass player, to organize, edit, and present the virtual performances from July 4th, 2020 through July 4th, 2021, the Band was kept ‘in the face’ of our loyal audience and supporters.”

The Band has finally started to rehearse again and will present two concerts in December. The first will be at 4 p.m., Dec. 12, at the Pinecrest Gardens Banyan Bowl. The concert is free, but attendees must RSVP at www.gmsb.org or by calling 305-273-7687.

“Happy Holidays...Are Here Again” will feature Christmas, Hanukkah, and music of the season including a performance by vocal soloist Susie Blank Wolfe and an audience sing-along.

“It’s been a long struggle, keeping the organization together for all these months, but we’re back and all seems to be well and progressing,” Proctor said.

The second concert will be at 8 p.m., Dec. 14, as a live stream performance from the University of Miami Gusman Concert Hall. Daisy Su and the Greater Miami Voices will be featured in this 75-minute concert. It is also free.

Music Director Robert Longfield will also conduct “Their Blossoms Down” in honor of a number of Band members family and friends, as well as audience members’ families and friends, who have died in the past 19 months. It is inspired by an Irish poem.

Jorge Lorenzo in the percussion section said, “It’s so good to be back playing again.”

Caroling Competition starts Dec. 1

Every year since 1987, the 550 Biltmore Way Building and owners CGI Merchant Group in Coral Gables host the holiday Merrick Festival Caroling Competition.

Miami-Dade County and Broward County middle and high school students compete for $20,000 in cash prizes contributed by local businesses, foundations and municipal organizations.

After a year off for the pandemic, the choruses will be back Dec. 1-5 performing in front of the building’s huge, spectacular poinsettia tree for the public, family and friends. It is free.

The Caroling Competition takes place over five days with different schools performing every half hour each evening 7-10 p.m. The Saturday performances are 3-6 p.m. The winners will return to perform Dec. 7. Visit www.carolingcompetition.org to see the schools scheduled.

Write to ChristinaMMayo@gmail.com with news for this column.