I don't know how or if BP residents celebrated the 25th and 50th anniversaries of the Village. In 1958, the year of the 25th anniversary, men wore suits and slicked their hair, women wore dresses and high-heeled shoes and had their hair done, very many people smoked, and celebrations of many things had a formal tone to them. I remember my own parents' involvement in outings like these. I'm imagining a cocktail party, at least, if not a full banquet.
In 1983, the year of the 50th anniversary, people still enjoyed celebratory get-togethers. In the Village, there was a vibrant garden club. My first BP next door neighbor, Lois Roberts, had been very active in the garden club. There was also an active sense of community here. I can only imagine there must have been some eager marking of the BP "half century." On the other hand, I have asked two families who lived here in 1983. One imagines he might have been at the 50th, if there was one (he doesn't remember), and he wonders if that was the time Ed Burke rode down the street on an elephant. The other family doesn't remember any celebration of the 50th and suspects there wasn't one.
I moved here in 2005, and the 75th anniversary was in 2008. The "party" was held at the Miami Shores Country Club and included a dinner, a lecture on local history, and a floor show. We all dressed up, and the event doubled as a fund-raiser for the Village. The program was devised and planned by a group of BP residents who worked for months on it. One of the planners was the then Mayor.
It's not clear why an 80th anniversary event was planned. Some BPers say they think an 80th anniversary is not worthy of much fanfare. Maybe others just like to celebrate: if we like to party, who cares what the excuse is? Planning was executed by the team of Candido Sosa-Cruz and Barbara Watts, who relied on historical interest grants for all funding.
The plan for the celebration became informal. The date, a Friday, instead of the Saturday we might have expected, conflicted with an intended Food and Tunes, which turned out to be symbolic. The 80th anniversary schedule much more closely resembled a glorified Food and Tunes itself than it did a gala. Added were the presentation of a mural, an event partially tainted by a faulty process, a lecture presented by a different historian than five years ago (very lively and well-received), a concert by a symphonic band from North Miami, and a flag football game the next day, contested by our PW/Recreation staff and our police. Vendors sold arts and crafts both days. Two vendors, our own David Blake and Tim Tierney, sold comestibles. David is marketing specialty coffee and chocolate, and Tim is selling pickled produce he prepared himself. (Both were very good.)
The Saturday chapter of the 80th anniversary celebration was essentially rained out. No one's fault, but also symbolic never-the-less.
Maybe the event-planning suffered from the decision not to involve the people who care, or theoretically would care, the most: BP residents. During the most recent similar opportunity, BPers wanted something more upscale. Maybe, as some BP residents have said, the 80th anniversary simply did not carry the emotional impact to make it worthy of much hullabaloo. Whatever attracted people, or would have attracted them, it was a nice evening. The lecture was a nice feature, the band was very good, and if you like food truck food, you ate adequately.
The 80th anniversary celebration seems either to have been too little or too much. Either it deserved more elaborate planning and greater pomp, or it was an exaggerated response to a minor marker. The other possibility, that few of us might want to consider, is that it was just right. As with a person, an 80th birthday is well worth noting, because of the decreasing likelihood of more birthdays, or of many more of them. At that age, we take what we can get. The same is being said of Biscayne Park. Lifespan numbers have been mentioned lately. Ten more years to live. Maybe less than 10. If that's what's ahead of us, sure, we'll seize the 80th. Maybe we should make a plan for an 81st.
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