By Bari Auerbach
This year, the city’s 13th anniversary celebration will be one of the biggest and best yet featuring the third annual Sunny Isles Beach Offshore Powerboat Challenge June 10-13th plus a gala anniversary party on June 13th at Samson Oceanfront Park with plenty of food for everyone courtesy of Shorty’s Barbecue.
‘Powerhouse Growth’
Back in 1998, the late Mayor David Samson and members of the inaugural City Commission celebrated the first anniversary since Sunny Isles Beach incorporated in ’97 with a small cake at City Hall, operating out of rented space in an RK shopping center. Today, the state of the art Sunny Isles Beach Government Center building is just one magnificent landmark testifying to the city’s monumental success story.
Considering all the proactive accomplishments that have been achieved in record time, residents of all ages will certainly have cause to celebrate, sharing the city’s 13th anniversary festivities with Mayor Norman S. Edelcup, Vice Mayor Lewis Thaler, Commissioners Roslyn Brezin, Gerry Goodman and George “Bud” Scholl, City Manager Rick Conner and members of city staff.
“The Sunny Isles Beach story is probably the greatest Pygmalion of any municipal story in the history of Florida – if not the United States,” noted Seth Bramson, author of From Sandbar to Sophistication: The Story of Sunny Isles Beach.
From the heyday of “motel row,” the city has slowly but surely transitioned to a “millionaire’s row” featuring luxurious developments now gracing the east side of Collins Avenue as well as a myriad of infrastructure improvements, beautification projects and beneficial services.
Mayor Edelcup explained, “Major innovations set us apart from many other South Florida cities - primarily our beachfront...We’ve made sure we’d always have beach accesses and we want as much green space as possible...We’ve built a new K-8 Community School in partnership with Miami-Dade County; doubled the number of parks from four to eight; and recently acquired land to create two additional parks on the south side of our city.”
Recent media coverage has highlighted the city’s phenomenal growth...Since 1997, the tax base has risen from $1.1 billion to $6 billion yet the tax millage rate is still one of the lowest in Miami-Dade County – 2.65. The city is also very fiscally sound with $10 million in reserves equal to about 50% of one year’s operating budget.
‘Powerboat Challenge’
Excitement is building for the third annual Sunny Isles Beach Offshore Powerboat Challenge June 10-13. The race weekend will feature a “Puttin’ on the Wish” to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida on Friday at Racers' Village in Haulover Park; the Bimini Ocean Challenge on Saturday; and the OPA finals on Sunday.
According to Offshore Events, Sunny Isles Beach is race two of the GEICO Offshore Racing Series. The entire race series is being filmed in HD and will air on the COMCAST Versus channel beginning in November. A live simulcast by SupercatRacing.com will also take place providing live coverage on the worldwide web.
Psyching everyone up for the event and helping to generate great international exposure for the city, Offshore Events exclaims, “It’s feeling HOT, HOT, HOT in Sunny Isles Beach! Now in its third year, the Sunny Isles Beach Offshore Powerboat Challenge brings us back to the beginning, 'old school' style, with an open ocean endurance challenge to Bimini and back.
“This four-day, action-packed event highlights local area landmarks, celebrates the history of Miami as the birthplace of offshore ocean racing and high performance boat manufacturing [and coincides with the Sunny Isles Beach gala 13th anniversary celebration].”
For more information about racing in the event, renting a Bat Boat to join in the Bimini Ocean Challenge, volunteering or sponsorship opportunities, visit www.OffshoreEvents.net or phone 305-332-5900.
