Hispanic music

 My little city Tamarac Florida, abuts  the cities of Sunrise and Coral Springs. We are the smallest city though: Tamarac's population is around 75,000, Sunrise 100,000 and Coral Springs 141,000. (Approximates all).

 However, because we have an activist music-loving mayor, Michelle Gomez, we tend to have many fun events which attract persons from those neighboring cities.

 Especially to our regular concerts in the parks.

We took in the Latin concert in Sunrise.

On  the other hand, before last night, I had only found one event in Sunrise which I felt was worth joining in. 

That was a day trip to Key West. 

 (https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2025/03/that-key-west-trek.html?m=1).

However, I have never attended an actual event in Coral Springs, although, I do walk at their Three Mountains Park on Saturdays. 

The name is a joke though as Broward County has no hills much less mountains.😅

However in Coral Springs, they did dredge a canal once and dump the dirt nearby to make 3 little hills, which is what was turned  into that small park with the auspicious name 😁.

As my muscles can never improve if I only walk in flat areas, I must not be disparaging, as I have gratefully adopted that area for a weekly trek🙏.

JOAN, MY VIEWS.: A hill at last! 

Yes, I  know I am rambling! It's only because I attended the Hispanic Heritage concert in Sunrise and was just reflecting on what the adjoining cities offer in comparison to mine😊.

You see,  like Tamarac, (JOAN, MY VIEWS.: ICE, culturally disruptive), Sunrise also had a Hispanic Heritage Concert during their celebration of Historic Heritage Month.

 It was held on the 10th October in their fairly new, beautiful amphitheatre.

The attendance was low in the beginning as it had rained all day and I imagine the ICE monster hadn't helped. 

The rain stayed away in the late afternoon though and it was actually a nice night. So the crowd grew slightly later and appeared to almost double.

Everyone was in high spirits throughout.

I love Latin music.

Latin music is so energetic and lively. One reason for this is it's pulsating beat as the rhythms are often built around throbbing African drums.

For the first hour at Sunrise, music was provided by DJ Genesis and the selections were good, as he played popular hits from every Latin American country, identifying them as he went along.

         Venezuelan dancers do their thing.

Then the live band La Nota took over and kept the vibes soaring throughout.

They had a half hour break during which Venezuela dancers, even mere babies  entertained.

It was a beautiful, cool night after the rains and the music, camaraderie and general entertainment was good.

Pity so few people turned out to enjoy what was a really very well planned and executed event.

Reflections

I am so happy that I ended up in Broward County in Florida, when I retired after almost 50 years of hard labor in my homeland, Jamaica.

Actually, Florida was never in my sights, but thanks to the horrid weather in Colorado, I flew south quickly🥶and made a perfect landing.

    

When I first got here, I only knew of one cousin, his wife and had one close friend living here. But would you believe that in no time I reunited with/found more family, friends and acquaintances living here than I knew at home😊!

Absolutely wonderful.

 I quickly learned that of the almost two million people who legally call this county home, (2021 figures) 16% are from the English Speaking Caribbean and more than 100,000 of those are Jamaicans! So everything my stomach pines for is here😊. 

                                                                                  The Jamaican experience here is certainly made more enjoyable too, by the involvement and excellent proactive performance of our culturally involved Consul General Oliver 

Mair.  His lecture series are well planned and executed too.                                                                                                    

This month's topic was; The art of Storytelling and it was held at the Island Space Caribbean Museum, which I was not even aware of before. (Joan, my views: A fun afternoon (joan-myviews.blogspot.com)

Front view of Island Space Caribbean Museum

To tell the truth, when my fellow Jamaican friend Carol told me about the event, I decided to attend but was not all that enthused.

However, when I left, l certainly was! 

This was the first time that I was even aware that Jamaica has an annual story telling competition.

A few Videos from some previous performances were shown  and they were certainly entertaining, heartwarming and hilarious. (Well known comedian Blakka Ellis had entered one and as usual he was super humorous.😂) 

 

Debra Ehrardt in action

The presenter was Debra Ehrardt, whom I soon learned is an accomplished Jamaican playwright, actress and story teller. She conducts the competition at home.                                                                 She demonstrated her storytelling prowess/expertise and had us falling us off our chairs.                                                                                         Visiting the Caribbean Museum was also another eye opener for me.                                                                                                                 It is located at Broward Mall and according to it's web page, it's vision is; To elevate  the  profile  of  Caribbean  art, history  and  culture  in every  form  throughout  South Florida  and  the  broader diaspora."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     It   has  quite  a  few  interesting  and  educational   exhibits  .  We    were    informed     that  Cedella     Marley     has     promised    to    donate     one     of     Bob Marley's     guitars    to    their  growing     collection.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      They     hope    to    have     that    on    display    soon.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 I  t      was     an other     enjoyable ,  educational     and     interesting      event     indeed.

It    was  an other  enjoyabe ,  educational   and   interesting    event   inde 

Some  pictures  from  the  museum

Calibe Thompson, a co-founder of the museum

Consul General Oliver Mair introduces actor/playwright Ricky Rowe

Created from plastic bags!

 

A touching musical

The news last night was terrible. For that is when we learned that our super-organizer and host, Charlene Nevadomski, will no longer  be in charge of, or accompanying us on the wonderful outings to see great musicals that come to Broward County.😭😭😭😭😭

Charlene center in white coat

This program is an excellent offering by the Tamarac Senior Centre, which not only exposes us to excellent musical productions a la Broadway, but also enhances the level of camaraderie among us seniors. 

For apart from the shows, we go beforehand to carefully selected restaurants, where we dine and exchange views.

Although Charlene appears to have gotten a promotion within Tamarac City and will therefore be an outstanding performer wherever she goes, we are going to miss her terribly as she has such an engaging personality.

Last night, we went first to Bahama Breeze where I was met with plaque made from the bottle corks of Jamaica’s famous Red Stripe beer.

And Shawn who drove us safely to and from Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, was a careful and extremely pleasant driver.

This presentation of 42^nd Street, the musical, was outstanding, touching but witty and energetic. (as have all the musicals I have attended so far, for they are carefully chosen by Charlene.

42nd Street is a 1980 Broadway production which has won the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Choreography and it has been a long-running hit.

Lauderhill Performing Arts Center

It is based on the 1932 novel by Bradford Ropes that follows the rehearsal process of a Broadway show put on during the height of the Great Depression.

The cast

So as usual, the show was enjoyable and the dozen of us seniors from the center who attended, were a really cool and entertaining group.

Walk good Charlene.

 

 

Miss Lou; Drama Queen Extraordinaire

In early September 2019, Jamaicans all over the world got together to celebrate the 100th anniversary  of the birth of our most revered cultural icon  Rt. Hon Dr. Louise Bennett-Coverly, lovingly  known as Miss Lou.

Guests mingle at the cocktail reception

Not to be left out, The Louise Bennet-Coverly Cultural Heritage Council in Broward County,  Florida, which is itself chaired by a cultural icon, Colin Smith, artist, musician, and dramatist, put on a magnificent show.

 It was dubbed 'Full hundred' and part proceeds from the event, are to be donated to the Edna Manley School of the Arts, in Jamaica,  so our culture can continue to wow the world.

Before the entertainment begun, the mood was set at a small cocktail reception but after that, it was pure niceness all the way.

The cultural show which followed was chaired by a well-known folklorist, Joan Andrea Hutchinson, OD-(the bumpy head gal) who, has demonstrated so far that she is indeed Miss Lou's natural successor.

The main two-hour entertainment package which was immensely enjoyed by the  full house at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts, was professionally delivered (as usual!) by the Jamaica Folk Singers with masterful backing from the versatile Tallawah Mento Band, led by Colin Smith himself. 

Jamaica Folk singers in action

The opening segment appropriately called "Come mek we dance an' sing"  thrilled the audience with popular  Jamaican folk songs like "Long gal mi nevva si yu" made famous by Miss Lou herself.

Their performance was interspersed with contributions from  well known dub poet Malacai Smith and Maxine Osborne.

It was a great night memorializing the invaluable cultural awakening that this celebrated giant  has left for us and that event at Coral Sprigs will be remembered by all who attended, for years to come.

Even I, for Miss Lou's anniversary, wrote a tiny tribute about the influence that she has had  had on all our lives.

It is; "When Louise Bennett-Coverley affectionately known as Miss Lou, was born in Kingston on September 7^th 1919, her parents could never have imagined what an outstanding, poet, teacher, social commentator, actress, comedienne, expert on Jamaican language/culture and television star they were bringing into to the world of that fateful day. Neither could they have expected that she would be dubbed the “first lady of Jamaican comedy” and receive honors ranging from O.M., O.J., M.B.E., to Hon. D. Litt., in her short lifetime.

Members of Tallawah Mento Band at extreme right

However, from as early as age ten, her slew of talents began to emerge when she started to pen poems. By age fourteen, she staged her first paid stage performance.  It is not insignificant though that her extraordinary literary talent was initially discovered by Eric Coverley, who accidentally ran into a copy of one of her hand-written poems in his friend’s car. Instantly impressed, he invited her to perform it at a concert.

He eventually became her best friend and her loving husband.

In explaining her early immense interest in language and culture, in an interview entitled “Miss Lou and the early Jamaican Theatre” produced by the National Library, she explained that it was her exposure to women from all walks of life from an early age, which stoked her passion. For her mother had been a dress-maker with clients ranging from the wives of governors and other “top a naris people” to those from the humblest circumstances. To her mom though, everyone was a lady from, “coal lady” to “governor wife lady.”

What she observed early from their interaction with her mom and each other, was how important humor was to conversation and most importantly, how everybody was speaking the language of the common people when they became comfortable.

At the time, our own Jamaican language was not considered “acceptable “and was not widely used by those who had arrived, but clearly it was what everyone spoke once they relaxed!

This is what convinced the young Louise taking it all, that our language should indeed become nationally accepted and be brought out of the closet, so to speak.

When she was taken to the country to attend a Dinky Minnie which lasted eight days, there was no turning back for the young talent who had this burning desire to write.

Her creative drive - combined with her love for the folk songs her mom sung everyday which were popular in her birth parish of St. Mary but totally unacceptable in the schools where only English could be used - cemented the young poet’s desire to change it all.

Her first book of poetry published in 1942 was “Jamaica Labrish” and she was never too shy to perform on stage anywhere.  As her fame increased and her talents became recognized, she was awarded a scholarship to go to London to hone her acting skills at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. But even when she was given her own cultural program in London on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio, it could not salve her longing to return to her homeland where she was determined to shake up the cultural norms.

It was the pantomime being put on by expatriates in Kingston and which was being performed in the queen’s English, which became her first target for change. So, in 1948, she wrote in patois and acted in, Bluebeard. It totally revolutionized the theatre landscape in Jamaica.

In the ensuing years, Miss Lou kept us entertained with programs such as the “Lou and Ranny” show on radio and finally, delighted her audience while educating children in the performing arts, with “Ring Ding” on Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC TV).

Despite all her other achievements, I opine that her most impactful work is her influential publication “Aunty Roachy Seh” where our social consciousness as a nation is awakened, through her inimitable humor.

This is the 100 th anniversary of the birth of this great Jamaican lady whose influence on our language, social norms, culture and theatre can never be allowed to fade. So, it is incumbent on all of us to keep her flag flying while we never fail to say “Tenk yu Miss Lou.”

Caladiums galore

Wow, I had no idea what these flowers were called for we have them growing almost wild in Jamaica and place little value on them.

Section of a caladium farm outside Lake Placid.

However, with my Meet Up group led by Jennifer Weis, we had a wonderful day in Lake Placid, dubbed the caladium capital of the world, where they take this plant seriously as it provides quite and income for them.

Lake Placid is a pleasant little town with a population of just over 2000, situated in Highland County (I learnt yesterday that Florida has 67 counties. I had no idea it had so many). It is quite some distance away (over 130 miles)  from Broward County in which I live but was worth the trip which took us through scenic farm country and charming little towns.

To get there, we traveled through Palm Beach, Martin and sections of Okeechobee counties.

We didn't just go "flowers looking" though as we stopped on the way at the Hickory Hammock park area to make sure we got our usual Saturday morning exercise, a trek of almost 3 miles.

Hickory Hammock is I understand, sometimes a hunting area for those who want to shoot deer and wild boar and we saw lots of evidence of the presence of wild boar, although none in the flesh. But they clearly were around as our fearless leader pointed to the huge holes in the ground where they furrow to get their protein, worms and bugs. 

Hickory Hammock is a pleasant place to walk during the hot summer days in Florida, because of the shade provided by the huge oak trees of various ages and sizes. It is also very rustic and scenic in its own right with lots of palm, blueberries and other flora. (We were able to find a few ripe blueberries to nibble on).

Nine of us started on the hike but when we returned to our vehicles, we found a late comer waiting to accompany us to the caladium fair.

It was about a half an hour drive from Hickory Hammock to Lake Placid.

Lake Placid as I said earlier, is a pleasant little town but it is made even more attractive by the proliferation of beautifully painted murals on almost every street in the section where the festival was held.

A lovely mural on one of the buildings

This was the 24th annual Caladium festival and I was really overawed by the variety and sizes of the flowers, both those laid out for sale and those used for attractive decoration all around where the festival was held.

At the fair, you could buy both plants and bulbs and as festivals are, there were booths offering all sorts of craft, foods and other items for sale. There was even a booth giving out water which had a sign saying "Free water for the body. Jesus provides water for the soul".

I guess this might mean Lake Placid is a fairly religious area, I don't know. Just assuming. (But what does assuming mean?

Making an ass of you and me lol.) 

It was a nice day but being Florida, it was interrupted by a downpour of rain, but it did not last long.

We took refuge at a craft store which appeared to be run by the community and we actually saw some students working on their craft skills in a classroom there.

After a tasty and pleasant lunch during which it rained again, it was time for the long, tiring drive home.

But it was surely a day well spent.