Well now it's time to say goodbye to Tom and all his friends; thanks folks, for kindly dropping in
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Think of it as the ending of one of your favorite tv shows - Seinfeld, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Friends. We'll only be in reruns now, just like them.
The Grapevine will be 15 years old in May, and we've been publishing every day, showing up on your device and inboxes, but I think it has run its course. That's a long time to pump out daily articles and news stories. There are 15,000 posts, here, I guess that's an average of 1,000 stories a year! A few years back, we published 7 to 10 stories a day, 7 days a week! But people weren't seeing all of them, so I pared it down to a few.
The last day will be Tuesday, February 18 because I would like to publish photos and reports from the Coconut Grove Arts Festival and St. Stephen's Art Show which are the previous weekend.
If you fear you may get withdrawal symptoms, not to worry, I will keep the social media accounts going where I can post things like art festivals and restaurants, pictures and things like that, after all, aren't these social media platforms the blogs of today?
Instagram is here: instagram.com/coconutgrovegrapevine/
Facebook is here: facebook.com/coconutgrovegrapevine/
Twitter is here: twitter.com/grovegrapevine
All the archives are here from May 8, 2005 - a time capsule of the last 15 years in Coconut Grove. If you're on a tablet or computer, it's to the left, see that drop down menu? If you're on a cell phone reading this, I'm not sure if you can see the drop down menu.
I have another blog called Tomversation which I have been publishing for a few years now where I write about my travels, arts, culture, history, personal stuff, things like that. I sometimes write about local events, like the Gifford Lane Art Stroll for instance, which is in March, I'll probably take pictures and post it on Tomversation.
You can read the Tomversation blog here: tomversation.com, if you subscribe, it will appear in your email just like the Grapevine does now. I don't usually publish daily, but maybe I will if I don't have the Grapevine deadlines weighting on me every day.
I'll be around in one form or another, you'll see me around town and published in other places (Tomversation, Medium, the Huff Post, The Herald) or maybe any place you might invite me to publish a guest article or post).
Thank you for dropping in daily.
posted by Tom Falco at 4:00 AM
YOU MAY NOT LIFT THE PHOTOS & TEXT. IT'S COPYRIGHTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. YOU CAN HOWEVER SHARE A STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY USING THE LINKS HERE.
For linking to this one story, just click on the time it was posted & just this story will open for sharing - only through social media. Not copying and pasting.
37 Comments:
Tom, the Grapevine will be missed.
You did a great job!
Please feel free to change your mind.
Elvis Cruz
Thank you for all you have done to make the Grove feel like real community. I will miss your thoughtful and informative articles, and will continue to follow your info on social media. Good luck and thank you!
Say it ain't so, Tom!
But if it has to be, we all say Thank You for all your time, effort and patience in trying, with us Grovites, to save our beloved Coconut Grove.
You and the Grapevine will be sorely missed.
So sad to see you go. Was my first read of the morning since Moving to the grove in 2008.
What a great job you've done covering Coconut Grove, Tom. Thanks for all that hard work. The Grapevine will be missed!
Such sad news. Tom, thank you for your dedication to the Grove and for keeping us all in the loop on what's going on in our hood. The Grapevine will be GREATLY missed!!
I have loved the Grapevine. It has kept me so well informed about my community. I am going to miss it terribly. Marcia Proctor
I cannot possibly read all the eMails I get, but I have read all of yours. Thanx for everything Tom. See you at Tomversation
Congratulations Tom,
It's a happy/sad moment. Wish you the very best for the new strip. Exciting for you, for sure. So happy for you.
Will miss The Grapevine, but we can agree or disagree over coffee every now and then. Heartfelt thanks for the gift you gave our village. Best, Peter Studl
Tom,
I understand. I've lived in the Grove since 2015, the Roads before that, but have been coming here in one but have been a part of it in various manifestations since 1969!!! Those were great days. Miami is a tough place to be in when you have hindsight.
Good luck. Continued success!
.
PS Hey Elvis Cruz!
Just because the grapes are gone doesn’t mean the vine is dead. Thank you, Tom, for all your work over so many years. ❤️
Tom, thank you for all you do every day to make our community a better place. You are truly a treasure. If we can't convince you to keep doing the Grapevine, I look forward to seeing your next chapter!
David Winker, Esq.
Thank you for keeping us informed all these years, the Grapevine will definitely be missed!
Be a champ and say: I'll Be Back
I moved from the Coconut Grove two years ago. You were the way I was staying up to date on what was going on in Coconut Grove.
Thank you!
Tom,
So sorry learn of the end of the Grapevine, it was the best way to be informed in the Grove's ongoing activities.
I hope this doesn't mean you're leaving...?
Best regards, Robin
Say it isn’t so. You’ve been so much of a part of the Grove that I know and love. I realize that things have been changing so much lately but the changes in the Grove aren’t always good. I will miss the Grapevine and I hope we stay in touch
So sorry to hear... I have always looked forward to the blog... You will be missed
Yes, your updates will be missed! It must be daunting to be the recorder of the Groves demise.
Maybe with the loss of the Grove now a forgone conclusion it might be better if we all just ignore the lack of vision, incompetence, and political self-dealing of the city and county politicians and their puppet masters the developers and "go with the flow".
Resistance has been proven futile after all, and common sense not common, best to follow Grove Guy Glen and leave for higher ground, greener pastures, quieter villages, and keep fond memories intact.
10-15 years from now with the islands and waterfront destroyed by, high water, the next hurricane, and king tides who wants to live in a partially abandoned Atlantis amidst the skeletal remains of greed standing derelict and crumbling due to inadequate or unavailable insurance foreshadowed by the Dinner Key marina.
Thank you for your incredible contributions and for sharing your viewpoints all these years! A fresh, candid voice is always something to treasure. We look forward to your next chapter!
Love,
Lina, Jimmy and Savvy Bryan- Carrera
The Coconut Grove Grapevine has served the neighborhood exceedingly well over the last 15 years. Thank You Tom for your hard work and good judgement, we hate to see the Grape go. We know that you will find ways to continue to support the Grove in your new endeavors.
What a loss -- shuttering of the Grapevine. Thankless work, I'm sure, but so VITAL!!! Tom, I don't really know your background but you brought a journalistic sensibility to what is, by design and by platform, a blog. That's a remarkable feat. An informed and engaged citizenry -- something which has long set Coconut Grove apart in the largely indifferent communities of South Florida -- is a critical component of democracy. Suffice to say we'll need something to fill the void. I wish you the best in your next endeavor and hope you'll remain close to the Grove in both body and spirit.
Perhaps more Op-Ed articles. I'd be willing to contribute.
Too bad. I really enjoyed reading the updates. You have done a great job. Thank you!! Donna DeMichael
Dear Tom,
Thank you for everything. It's a lot of work to do what you've done, with your only payback being the satisfaction of keeping the community you love, informed.
Best wishes,
Elena
NOOOOOO!
How will we know what's happening?!
You have done an excellent job keeping us up-to-date on Grove Happenings.
Take a vacation...but PLEASE! don't call it quits.
We NEED YOU.
We have been losing the Grove we love to developers and speculators, with the Grapevine shutting down we will be totally orphaned.
Very sorry that you are giving up the Grapevine. You have done a fantastic job. Selfishly I hope you restart the grapevine.
I hope this is another false alarm Tom! We'll miss the coverage, the Grapevine community is a great one.
Ben K.
So sad to see you go. You provided so much good information over the years. Thanks for your service to all including outside of the Grove community!
Hey Tom... sorry to read this. You & the Grapevine are an integral part of Grove life and will be missed, fi real. I'm following your other pages, and wish you nothing but the best with your blog and comic strip. Thanks for all you've done to support a rapidly changing community.
Thanks for all you have done. The blog will be missed as it was a primary source of information about the Grove for many. At times, it was the first and only time we would hear of happenings in the Grove. Hopefully, somebody will step up and continue the legacy. It's needed.
FAKE NEWS, he is not ending the blog, he is just upset Rush got a medal and he didn't......
I guess everything in life comes to an end sometime...
Still reading that "The Grapevine" is leaving us is one of those news one tries to pretend is not true!
Such sad news for my entire household.
You have been part of our DAILY life for so long.
Farewell, happiness in your new endeavors and, last but not least, Tom will be greatly missed by true Grovites!
This sucks doubly so for me personally because after being born in the Grove back in '65 and living in and around the Grove all my life, I just moved 300 miles north and used your site here as my only and last connection to see what was going on in my hometown. I was the last person of everyone I knew who lived there to move so I have no one to talk to to see what latest atrocities are occurring.
Sad to see you go and thanks for the artwork that I won from you in that contest many years ago and thanks for keeping up on the current events and low down dirty deals the Grove is constantly brewing.
-Fat Dude with a 12 String.
Tom, the thing about doing a good job is that everyone takes it for granted. For 15 years, the Grapevine has been taken for granted by all of us in the community of Coconut Grove because you have done such a great job, not only in keeping us informed about all the goings-on in the neighbourhood but by being amusing, and at times, controversial. Indeed the Grapevine has the triumvirate of successful communication: Information, Amusement and Controversy.
Santiago and I are particularly thankful for the Grapevine giving us an opportunity to advocate for our tree canopy. You always gave us the room and space to fight for our trees, even if it meant going against other Grove organizations.
On behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, the board on which I have served for about 15 years, I am grateful for your support of our events, always including them in the blog, and never hesitating to publish and promote our 75-year organization.
If I may suggest, to make it a full 15 years of the Grapevine, why not publish from now until May, a weekly flash from the past of your most amusing columns that reflect the absurdity of the Grove-- we all have favourites- I like the picture of the missing cat circulated around the North Grove that was actually a possum. The sad rock in front of the former Johnny Rockets was another. The Grapevine marked an era in the Grove. It would be great to have access to an archive that will allow us to remember all the restaurants and businesses that have come and gone, or morphed, or remained. All the controversies that have come and gone-- Home Dept, the Waterfront, the trees. The commissioners. The Mayors. All the people that have come and gone, and all the friends the Grove has lost throughout the years. Maybe, like on Facebook, the Grapevine can become a "Memory Page."
Best regard, Liliana Dones and Santiago Villegas
Ps- sorry for the British affectation, but for some reason, Grammarly in Google insists on correcting grammar with a British accent-- "favourite" and all that.
Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was just talking about a certain viewers of a certain network being uniformed and the need for free, informative and diverse media and I was thinking about Coconut Grove Grapevine.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/former-white-house-chief-staff-164143306.html
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