Saying farewell to our friend Naomi

Last night was bittersweet in that we had a ball at Naomi Evan's going away party held at Peacock Garden Cafe, but of course it was a bit sad since our friend Naomi is leaving. She's not going far, she is headed to Brickell. Naomi was Marking Director of CocoWalk for the past few years and also was chair of the BID's marketing committee. Above, BID Director David Collins, gave Naomi a citation signed by Commissioner Sarnoff, to thank her for her many years of service to the Grove. From Snow Days to Easter events, 4th of July, to Bar Crawls, Mad Hatter, The Bed Race, Naomi had her hand and witty personality involved. You may even know her as Noni, her alter ego, the singer. We'll miss her.


The party was lots of fun and all the usual suspects were out enjoing. At left, Naomi is standing wtih Peggy Quattro who is taking Naomi's place as Marketing Director at CocoWalk. At right are Antoinette Baldwin and Maria Korge, Naomi's mom.


As Monty Trainer gives half of a Wendy Williams, "How You Doin'?" sign, Giana Levya, Louis Del Borrello and Sandy Speier look on.


What I find interesting about this photo of Naomi, Maria and Giana is the way there is this black mist. I was taking photos all night and then at a particular time, every photo that was taken at a particular spot in the bar has a mist or fuzzy smokey film over it, even though earlier in the same spot there was no issue with the photos. I used Maria's phone to take a photo of the three ladies and the same thing happened. It's interesting because I was thinking of contacting Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures, to see if they could do their thing at the Playhouse, but the land that Peacock Garden Cafe is on is actually older and has more history, there's even that gravesite out front for Grove pioneer Eva Amelia Munroe. Interesting and spooky.


It was really an enjoyable night and lots of us stayed for dinner at the end of the party to enjoy the ambiance and great food at the Peacock Garden Cafe.