Neighbors gather at the 1st annual Grand Ave News Block party at Elizabeth Virrick Park on Saturday, April 17th. Willie Jones, Kelsnic Jamle, and Trae’cori Johnson hang out on their bikes while getting some snacks at the block party. Photo by Rachel Steinhauser.
The block party arranged by University of Miami Professor Colee Splichal and her public relations students on April 17 to promote Grand Ave. News has created a community connection between the university and the West Grove that I hope will become even stronger.
What a beautiful event the students put on for us following a semester of preparation that brought free food, prizes, live music and lots of children to Virrick Park.
The overcast sky did not stop the joy of fun and games that turned into a plain old get-together for four hours Saturday afternoon. As I walked into the park, children were getting their faces painted; your friendly neighborhood police officers, S. Kirkland and E. Abbott, were on hand as were several UM faculty and representatives from other community organizations. I brought my family with me, and it was great to see childhood friends Tilley, DeeDee and Donnie Wynn, just to name a few.
The goal of the event was to draw community attention to the School of Communication’s website, Grand Avenue News, which, under the leadership of Professor Kim Grinfeder, has been an online source of news and events taking place in our community for the past eight months.
The block party seemed to re-energize Virrick Park in such a way that made some of us recall the Union 5 Skates on Christmas Day, which also took place at the park.
As Donna Kirby Thomas Jones and I talked, we recalled everyone started skating between 5 and 6 in the morning until sundown. Plaza Street down to Day Avenue was blocked off for skating. We would skate down Plaza into the park onto the very skate pavilion where UM’s block party was hosted. Teenagers would join the skate train on the larger skate pavilion while the younger children skated on the little skate pavilion as music played.
Miss Benn (Barbara Benn)and “Mr. Sidney” Wynn were the park staff.
Remember the whip?
Seasoned skaters would form at the front and the end of the skate line while everyone else maneuvered to the middle for safety. Yes, there was an occasional broken arm from skating by the end of the Christmas holiday season, but it was just part of growing up and being at the tail end of the train. The real challenge however, was not to be the person responsible for derailing or breaking the train apart. A successful whip was the goal and a few did occur before the end of the Christmas Holiday Season.
Boy, did the public relations students and Grand Avenue News team bring back memories.
Neighbors gather at the 1st annual Grand Ave News Block party at Elizabeth Virrick Park on Saturday, April 17th. Leandra and Leonard Smith show their hula-hoop talent with the hoops provided at the block party. Photo by Rachel Steinhauser.
The block party sponsors provided enough snacks to eat as well as enough artwork for purchase to support Urban Resurrection, a dedicated group of young people working hard to make a difference here in the Grove. Coconut Grove Collaborative’s Charles Byrd spoke on sustainability within The Grove and Census Bureau Representative, Victor, reminded everyone to complete, then send in their form to assist our area in receiving increased government funding; 10 years ago we were under counted which generated fewer CDBG funds.
Stephen Murray and I, two of your nine Coconut Grove Village Council representatives, enjoyed announcing the winners of the raffles that distributed nearly 40 prizes to children and adults.
We both would like to thank all of the PR students and their sponsors for donating bicycles, jewelry, children’s gifts, including a hamster with state-of-the-art housing and food, gift certificates to restaurants, groceries and other stores.
To make events like this even more successful, we need more ministerial and church support. Ministers, please help us get the word out on activities in our area by including these kinds of activities in your weekly church announcements.
Everyone had a great time. With more support and publicity, could the Coconut Grove Block Party become an annual event, growing in participation?
A monetary value cannot be placed on the lasting impact the block party has made on our youth.
Sincerely,
Renita Ross Samuels-Dixon,
Coconut Grove Village Council Treasurer
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