The Art of Healthy Aging
Editor’s Note
Get Ready for the Centennial
By European standards – heck, even by the standards of Colonial America – 100 years is not profoundly old when it comes to things like architecture and cities in history. But for South Florida, the youngest part of a decidedly juvenile state, a century is a long time indeed.This year, as all good Gableites should know, marks the hundredth anniversary of the founding of Coral Gables by our pater metropolis George Merrick.
Therefore, this year you will see much of our city’s history unfold through a series of centennial features, looking at the organizations that were founded 100 years ago, and at the buildings that were erected 100 years ago. It is quite an array, from the Garden Club to the Women’s Club to the historic architecture designed by such notables as Phineas Paist and Denman Fink.
In this issue we already have a trio of historic stories, though only two go back all the way to 1925 – the history of the city’s golf courses, the history of UM’s Iron Arrow honor society – while the history of the Beaux Arts organization goes back a mere 75 years.
Of course, a city that does not keep re-inventing itself is doomed to be mired in the past, and the Gables also prides itself on staying on the cutting edge of urban technology, so much so that it’s routinely recognized as one of America’s leading Smart Cities.
2025 is also important as an election year. In this issue we provide a brief look at the candidates for the positions of Mayor and two City Commission seats. For those of you who have followed the deplorable antics at City Hall in the last year, this year’s April election will prove pivotal. If the right candidates are elected, we just might return to the historically calm and wisely run government that was a hallmark of the Gables until the upset election of 2023. More on that as the next few months unfold. In the meantime, take a well-deserved bow for being the residents of a city that respects its past as it moves into the future.
