Parkinson’s Moving Day Miami walk to be Nov. 10

It’s time for Moving Day Miami, a Walk for Parkinson’s.

Many members of the community will gather for this annual event starting at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at Museum Park, 1075 Biscayne Blvd., to support cutting-edge research and community programs to improve the lives of people with Parkinson’s disease and their families.

“Moving Day is about engaging, educating and empowering individuals with PD and their families,” said Hunter Reno, Moving Day Miami Event Chair. “In addition, the support of the community enables us to continue to make meaningful improvements in the lives of those with Parkinson’s.”

Reno’s aunt, former U.S. Attorney General and Miami-Dade State Attorney Janet Reno, died at 78 of Parkinson’s complications in 2016.

The movement celebration, hosted by The Parkinson’s Foundation, is more than a walk.

Activities will begin at 8 a.m. There will be an area for children, a caregiver’s relaxation tent, and a movement pavilion with yoga, dance, Tai Chi, Pilates, boxing, and other activities. All of these activities have been proven to help manage Parkinson’s symptoms.

The family-friendly walk, on a special course, will start at 10 a.m.

One million Americans are living with Parkinson’s disease and 60,000 people are newly diagnosed each year. Since 2011, Moving Day events across the country have raised more than $17 million to improve care and advance research toward a cure.

To learn about Moving Day and how you, your family and friends, and your company can get involved, visit movingdaymiami.org.

Voting matters video

The talented students at Miami Northwestern Senior High School’s Performing and Visual Arts Center and the Alternative Directions Music Industry Training Program have released a video to encourage everyone who can to exercise their Constitutional right to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

The “Our Vote Matters!” video was filmed at the school by filmmaker Dayro Delgado and it features a song by outstanding lead vocalist roles for six PAVAC participants. The students worked hard to edit and release the video in time for it to spread virally.

You can watch at https://youtu.be/5mhoZXPbhxU.

This community service project is one of many coordinated by Thomas Demerritte, founder of the ADMIT Program, over the past 16 years. The nonprofit program was founded in 2002 as a method to teach young people about different careers and strategies in the music industry. It also gives them the chance to write and record their own songs to positively impact their communities.

“We have worked with Northwestern’s PAVAC Program on several occasions over the years and have always produced great results in terms of song quality and the positive messages they deliver to their fellow students,” Demerritte said.

“This song is especially important to expose young people to civic activism, while showing them the sacrifices made by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other civil rights leaders and other affected and concerned citizens to help to give all Americans the right and the responsibility to vote.”

PAVAC Director Roanna Richardson said the students were especially inspired making the voting encouragement video.

“The kids all had fun and feel good about the fact that they may have an impact on getting citizens all over the country to vote,” she said.

For more, contact Demerritte at 786-287-1184 or Richardson at 305-836-0991.

Angel Hats Fun Day

The Cauley Square Historic Village will present the first Kids Fun Day hosted by the Angel Hat Mission Center to raise funds for children with cancer. The event is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, 22400 Old Dixie Hwy. in South Miami-Dade.

Featured will be a coloring and drawing contest and there will be prizes for the young artists.

Angel Hats and other items, lovingly made by crochet artist Suk He, will be for sale. For more information call 305-258-3543.

Open Poetry Reading

It started as a place to go to read poetry or the poems of others. Now, the Open Poetry Reading at the Sunny Isles Beach public library has grown into a venue for all authors to present.

Hector Vazquez, library branch manager, organizes the event held the second Saturday of each month. The next one will be 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at 18070 Collins Ave., Sunny Isles Beach.

Two authors who regularly present their work are Peter LaVilla and Mary Ann Mori, who is working on her second novel.

“These two writers are joined by other guest writers and poets at the recitals,” Vazquez said. “We also have attendees who read the poetry of the poets they admire like Whitman, Browning, Keats, Shakespeare, to name a few of the greats.”

Vazquez serves as event moderator and often recites a poem he has written or the work of an author he admires. The Open Poetry Reading events are free. For more, contact Vazquez at 305-682-0726.

Florida photographs

National Geographic photographer Nathan Benn will take you down a path of Florida memories at his upcoming HistoryMiami Museum exhibition opening with a cocktail reception 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, 101 West Flagler St.

The event, “A Peculiar Paradise: Florida Photographs by Nathan Benn,” also will mark the release of Benn’s new 200-page book of Florida photographs. Many were taken in the early 1908s. The exhibition will feature 100 photos and artifacts.

“These Florida pictures are the finest and most personal work from my 20-year career as a National Geographic photographer,” Benn said. “They reveal the duality of a place that is vibrantly dynamic while at the same time an imagined paradise.”

The pictures “explore Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, extreme affluence, nightlife, immigration, work cultures, tourist attractions, remarkable Floridians, Dundee’s Fifth Street Gym [in Miami Beach], and the narcotics war,” organizers said. They were taken using Kodachrome film.

“For those who live in Florida, this exhibition is certainly a walk down memory lane and offers an unusual look into what shaped Florida into the eclectic makeup we enjoy today,” said Jorge Zamanillo, executive director of HistoryMiami Museum.

“If you are not from Florida, you are sure to be fascinated by the stories of our past that have molded this peculiar paradise that we call home. Through these carefully curated images, you will be intrigued by the issues that were tackled here 37 years ago and those that remain hot button issues today.”

Benn was raised in Miami and graduated from the University of Miami. The exhibit will run through April 14, 2019. Call 305-375-1492 or visit historymiami.org.