Danny de Varona, 52, is chairman of the Optimist Club of Miami Lakes and director of its baseball and softball programs.
Varona is a network administrator for Seaboard Marine.
He is married to Irene Varona, 49, a bookkeeper and has three children: Katie Varona, 23, a pharmacist; Alex Varona, 22, also a network administrator; and Sebastian Gonzalez, 11, a student at Mother of Our Redeemer Catholic School in Hialeah.
Q: Where are you from and what is your background?
A: I was born and raised in Miami. I graduated from Christopher Columbus High School in 1986. In 1998, I joined the U.S. Army and later fought in Desert Storm. I graduated from Miami-Dade College with a degree in computer engineering.
Q: What do you like most about the Town of Miami Lakes?
A: The friendly neighborhood feeling. I am a big fan of the parks, and we love to dine at restaurants. My wife and I frequent restaurants in town as much as possible. I also love the events the town does like the Fourth of July celebration and events for kids like the Bike Rodeo and Halloween Haunted House.
Q: What do you dislike about Miami Lakes?
A: The traffic. Traffic is difficult.
Q: As chair of the Optimist Club of Miami Lakes, what are the challenges and what do you hope to accomplish?
A: One of the challenges is getting the improvements to Miami Lakes Optimist Park done. Since 2010, and through various Town of Miami Lakes administrations, we still haven’t been able to break ground on projects to improve the park.
I hope the parks department and with the support of the mayor that we will break ground on the improvements based on the redesigns of the park.
If we can do the improvements, the park can attract more players to our programs and the town can host more events like tournaments at the park.
Q: What is your biggest accomplishment, whether in your personal life or career?
A: Getting married to my wife. It’s the best thing I have done other than the births of my children.
Q: Do you have a fantasy career?
A: Being a Florida state senator. I love Florida and I think I could do a lot and affect change to help the people in Florida.
Q: What are you reading, or what podcasts are you listening to?
A: “What Unites Us” by Dan Rather [and Elliot Kirschner]. It’s a series of essays on America and American life. I respect Dan Rather, especially how he talks about how things are in the political climate and how we got here.
Q: What have you binge-watching on TV?
A: “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV. It’s about an American college football coach who was hired to manage a struggling professional soccer team in England, even though he never coached the sport.
Q: Where did you last travel to on vacation?
A: Naples, Florida for Father’s Day this year. My wife and I and her family and my son Sebastian all stayed at the Vanderbilt Beach Resort. Sebastian caught a redfish and Jet Skied. We lounged around the ocean. We sat in our chairs with our umbrellas right in front of the water to enjoy.