By Juan Whipple
Trend Magazine Online™
In With The New!
Trend Magazine Online™
In With The New!
This was my first official event attended in my hometown of
Miami, Fl., and first event of any kind
attended of any kind -- except church -- since I could remember. I chose
this event obviously because it is the first of the New
Year. Last year (2014) marked the 30th
Anniversary of this event which replaced my childhood
King Orange Jamboree Parade that operated from
1935 to 2001 along Brickell
Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard Downtown. It was
held the day before the big Orange Bowl game in the old
stadium downtown which has since been moved to Sun Life
Stadium in Miami Gardens to the north.
TheJamboree was ended because they lost their sponsors
for the big floats that I remember so vividly in the
1970’s. The Bayfront celebration
was called the Fiesta by the Bay. The
Jamboree has since been replaced by the King
Mango Strut Parade in Coconut Grove. On the
other side of the tracks used to be the Orange Blossom
Classic parade and game which used to be along North
West 17th Avenue before being moved
to North West 7th Avenue. It operated from
1933 to 1978 and featured the
Florida A & M University (FAMU)
Rattler’s and another HBCU
(Historically Black College or University).
The venue was Bayfront Park in Downtown
Miami and the signature performer was
Miami’s own Mr. “305” Pit
Bull. I have seen this guy perform a time or two on various
television shows and he always seems very upbeat, hip, and cool; as some
of us older folks would say. I had just been through Bayfront
Park on my inaugural QCT Miami Daily City Tour
the Saturday before (12/27) New Year’s
Wednesday night event on December 31,
2014. They were preparing for this mega event then by
installing a temporary fence. I arrived via public transportation as the
organizers suggested cutting back on endless traffic jams. I caught the
Metrorail to the Government Center
Station and then transferred to the Metromover Omni
Loop and got off at the Bayfront Station. I
arrived around 6:30 PM and surprisingly the crowd was
very light compared to the nearly ¼ million projected by
the media. The first thing that I noticed was the mass police presence
gathered around the station which immediately let me know that these guys
were going to do their best to ensure that everyone had a safe and
enjoyable celebration. I walked over to the much-talked about orange that
was going to make its way up the side of the nearby Inter
Continental Hotel at midnight.
On my way back to the front of the park off Biscayne
Boulevard I discovered something that I had not quite seen
before in my fifty-plus years of living; the building was dancing. I
mean, there was a larger-than-life shadow of a Bond-like
lady dancing on the side of the hotel’s building. She covered about
90% of the side of the building and came complete with
background neon lights. One of my first great discoveries inside
Bayfront Park was a cell-phone charging station
sponsored by Visitflorida.com to which my company
Queen City Tours and Travel is listed. These guys
deserve a big round of applause for making the decision to supply these
very useful stations as the battery life of most phones is depleted
rapidly with the advent of photo and video taking. My phone, for
instance, has to be charged after each series of photos and videos which
created a near panic during my initial plans of quickly locating a plug
in the park; hopefully in the restroom. These useful stations also
included a pretty cool diversion while you waited for your mobile device
to charge; you could snap a pic of yourself with none other than
Mr. “305” himself -- Pit
Bull.
I was one of the first to try this neat gimmick that then allowed me to
email the pic to myself while awaiting my charge. I then heard a familiar
voice in the direction of the main stage on the south end of the park. It
was none other than Ms. Betty Wright who most folks not
in the know now confuse with the white actress Betty
White from The Golden Girls (1985 – 1992)
TV series fame. This Betty Wright is an
African-American soul (R&B, Rhythm and Blues)
Grammy Award-winning singer who made her mark in the
1970’s and 80’s with hits
like No Pain No Gain (1988), Tonight is the
Night (1974), and her signature hit Clean up
Woman (1971). She also just happens to be a
Miami native like myself, Pit Bull,
Les Brown (Motivational Speaker), and
Trina (Rapper). Disclaimer -- I am in no way putting
myself in their entertainment category but since I am the author of this
article; well, you know? Smile! She performed from just before 7
PM until 7:30 PM, and an encore performance of
her signature tunes at around 7:45 PM. Believe it or not
this was my first time seeing Ms. Wright in person
although I have heard her many times over the radio. Back in the day she
could be heard on the old WEDR Urban Radio Station with
Jimmy-G, Super
Jerry-J, and Marlo the Burner to name a
few of the iconic Miami DJ’s from the
1970’s. She still has very good stage presence and
during her show proved that she can still move and groove to the beat as
I observed some of the younger folks digging her vibes. I really enjoyed
her performance.
