Dustin



HGK & Dustin

Dustin was an aspiring baseball star until the head of the Miami Beach rec department killed the Pony League, for 2 years.  Why did he do this?   Attitude clash.  Adversaries: North Shore Optimist Club, sponsors of the league for 40 years. And the recreation department head.   Result, coaches, uniforms and equipment provided by the Optimists would now be supplied by the rec. dept and the lost Optimist funds would come from fees charged to the kids.  Actual results.  The 40 year old Optimist club disbanded and the city, now finding it was difficult to collect the fees from the kids, mostly new arrivals from all over, cancelled the  Miami Beach's Pony league entry for 2 years.   Dustin and the rest of the kids got caught in the debris.  What was wrong with the head of the rec department?   Just an uncaring guy in the wrong job. 

The ball field abutted the tennis courts.   When Dustin came in to talk to his classmate Tammy, she  introduced him.  He just wanted to play baseball.  From the kids side, their not playing was caused by the MB rec department who made no effort to communicate with parents, many of whom had difficulty with new ways in a new country. Losing the Optimists was losing the buffer between them. 



Example, the Pell Grant is just that, a grant.  It is explained to every senior in high school.  Its still given to eligible college students to help with their personal expenses.  A survey revealed nearly 400,000 eligible students did not apply and an investigation revealed why.  Lack of knowledge about the Pell grant by immigrant parents but mostly fear of forms.  Dustin showed me the MB fee waiver form.   A requirement was a copy of the parent's IRS tax information.  I laughed when I read it, but it wasn't funny to the kids some of whom went straight to the streets.

Dustin & Desperado

Dustin became a good tennis player
and later played #1 for the Beach Hi team.

When he was 14 Dustin and 2 friends went to Western Video, corner of Collins and 72nd.  As they approached, a kid came running out of the store with a video game in his hand.  They chased him for a block and a half and caught him  Then they brought him and the tape back to the store where the police were waiting.  The police arrested them all.  They were taken to the station, photographed and fingerprinted. 
Afterwards a knowledgeable friend advised me not to apply to have his record expunged.  His reason.  Under the law, you are only allowed to do this once and, never tell, he may need it someday for something serious.  It was difficult to restore Dustin's pre-incident attitude about the police.  Today, Dustin is a MiamiDade detective.