• The May 16 “MOCA Takes the Cake” celebration of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s five years Downtown was a big success. More than 200 people attended and voted for the cake-decorating competition’s People’s Choice Award which was won by Edgewood Bakery. A panel of judges including Karolyn Kantin, who created the cake for President George H.W. Bush’s 65th birthday, awarded three other honors: Most Technically Superb went to Kakes by Katie, Best Use of the Number 5 was won by the Cake Shop of San Jose and the design by Choux Cakes & Pastries won Most Outrageous. Proceeds from the event benefit the museum’s educational programs.
• Jacksonville is closer to last place than first place in the Go Red Women Heart Friendly Cities Study, ranking No. 31 of 49 in the mid market category. The study shows the most and least heart healthy cities for women in the country, focusing on the 200 largest metro areas with criteria ranging from number of check ups and healthy eating to cigarette usage and exercise frequency.
• The City has been hosting its own “Biggest Loser” contest for the past 20 weeks. The contest started with about 30 people, but several have dropped out. Tuesday is the final weigh-in and we know who the winner is, but we aren’t saying. Let’s put it this way: they can’t be caught.
• Bill Montei has been named president of Physicians Preferred Insurance (PPI) Management. The Jacksonville-based medical malpractice insurance provider was founded four years ago and represents more than 1,200 physicians and $15 million in annual premiums. Montei has been in the insurance industry for 28 years and prior to joining PPI, took the Physicians Insurance Company of Wisconsin from inception to $80 million in premiums.
• Looking for something intellectual to do on the weekends? Sectionjax.com hosts “Brain Brawl” every Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Main Library. Chess players of all levels are encouraged to play.
“George knows everything about every fish that comes in here—where they came from, what they were doing before they were caught, who their mothers and fathers were.”
– Stanley Kramer, former chef at Grand Central Terminal’s Oyster Bar restaurant, on assistant manager George Morfogen who was in charge of purchasing $24,000 worth of fresh seafood a week