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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Gene Tinnie-Virginia Key Beach Park Trust Annual Board ReportSubmitted into the public record for itern(s) on '2,1 11 i - City Clerk Memo To: Daniel Alfonso, City Manager From: Guy Forchion, Executive Drector Mr. Gene Tinnie, Chair Virginia Key Beach Park Trust Date: January 15, 2016 Re: 2015 Annual Report Vr` 1r- Ica !.j aL.Ii'ar r� I_t Pursuant to City Code Sec. 2-890 (Annual report of city boards and committees) I have attached the following document. •i u- uo no- SAnil Irtm- bent rort yek,1 beltoo ( rri)s JTn.i pC7 k. Submitted into the public record for 'tern(s) )L I on 41 1 City Clerk Virginia Ke9 I3cac6 rark Trust 2015 Annual Report to the City of Miami 2 Submitted into the public record f r tem(si flT on Qi ill 1 I City Clerk Virginia ,e., leach rark Trust MISSION STATEMENT Our mission is to carry forward the vision for the development and use of Virginia Key Beach Park, promoting and maintaining absolute public ownership and access, fostering its perpetuation as a passive open green - space that includes nature trails, recreational facilities and museum structures appropriate and compatible with the nature of Virginia Key; preserving it as a valuable resource to be enjoyed for posterity, and to honor the rich historical legacy of the social and civil rights history of South Florida. Virginia Ke9 I eack nark Trust Annual Report to the City of Miami 1) Whether the Board is serving the purpose for which it was created. The Virginia Key Beach Park Trust has continued to maintain and increase its offerings of diverse cultural, educational and environmental tours, volunteer opportunities, special events and recreational activities and programs at the Historic Beach Park property. Restoration of the natural areas and restorative maintenance of the buildings continue, and amusements rides and special features continue to attract increasing numbers of visitors each year. November 20, 2013 marked the date Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, 4020 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149, was approved by the City of Miami's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board for the final designation as an Individual Historic Site. This was an important step in the preservation and protection of the Historic Beach Park property and the island of Virginia Key for future generations. 2) Whether the Board is serving current community needs. The Trust has continued to strive for the highest level of quality in recreational, picnic and public facilities in South Florida. Success has been seen in the increasing number of families and community -based organizations that have partnered with and use the Historic Beach Park facilities on a regular basis. Weekend, holiday and special event visitorship has surpassed 110,000 in fiscal year 2014-2015_ The Trust has continued to embrace diverse public use of the Historic Beach Park for recreation, education and enjoyment. Historical, environmental, and cultural education is a central theme in the interpretation of the Historic Beach Park's future development and programming; the community's desire to see the unique natural environment and culture value of the Historic Beach Park preserved is paramount to our purpose. The recent addition. of public bike and walking trails and additional recreational features (new volleyball nets, 3 soccer goals, Tiki Village added to the very popular 9-hole disc golf) facility upgrades has continued to keep each visit to the property exciting and fresh. 3) A list of the Board's major accomplishments. Major accomplishments during f-Y 2014-2015: Historic Virginia Key Beach Park was named South Florida's "2015 BEST BEACH" by the Miami New Times, 2. The July 2014 completion of the Army Corps of Engineers Ecosystem Restoration Project on Virginia Key represented the culmination of more than 10 years of multi -organizational partnerships, multi -agency coordination and thousands of volunteer hours. The project installed more than 20,000 new native plants and removed several acres of invasive exotic vegetation throughout Virginia Key and Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, 3. The addition of new agency and event partners: Zen Village, Battle Frog, Multirace Triathlon, Wanderlust 108, Love Bum, and Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-in. 4. Completion of the 91h Annual YMCA Junior Marne Biology Summer Camp 5_ Completion of the 3rd Annual Virginia Key Beach Park Trust Holiday Fair — Community Fundraising Event 6. The third year of collaboration and partnership with Nature Links for Life Long Learning, an education and life skills program for developmentally delayed adults aged 27-30 including the construction of a spice garden and addition of a food truck. 7. Sea Grass Adventures environmental education programming partnership with Biscayne Nature Center and Dade County Public Schools 8. Partnerships with TREEmendous IVliami, the Frost Museum, the Nature Conservancy, Friends of Miami Marine Stadium and BAYNANZA for Historic Site restoration on Virginia Key 9. Cultural and Historical education programming tours partnership with HistoryMiami Museum, the Frost Museum and Dade County Public Schools 10. Addition of the Tiki Village picnic area with the assistance of a Florida Inland Navigation District (FIND) Grant_ Submitted into the public record for iletnli s] TYE I Ott 3 i I l L.• City Cleve 4 11 _ Construction of additional bike and walking nature trail on the Historic Beach Park 12. Continued near shore and upland ecosystem restoration and environmental maintenance 13. Addition of recreational programing involving soccer camps and bicycle rental with Island Bike. 14_ Growing volunteer support from local organizations, schools, universities, and other partners has been a valuable resource, helping the Trust maintain the 82 acre Historic Beach Park while continuing to build a strong board -based community network of concerned and passionate supporters. 4) Whether there is any other Board, either public or private, which would better serve the function of the Board. The Virginia Key Beach Park Trust has continued to gather support and praise from community members and local leadership. [Mention of "Best Beach" designation by Miami New Times?] The Trust draws on the extensive knowledge and expertise of board members representing pioneer families and a range of professional fields, which have been major assets to its continuing progress and success. Partnerships with neighbors on Virginia Key and surrounding communities are a testament to the Trust's ability to provide leadership and its appropriateness as the only entity that should lead this project. 5) Whether the ordinance creating the Board should be amended to better enable the Board to serve the purpose for which it was created. The criteria set forth by the ordinance that created the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust have served the Trust well. However; following the unique financial difficulties that struck the nation during the "global economic meltdown," also known as the "Great Recession" resulting in the City of Miami's withdrawal of all direct operational funding to the Trust. The withdrawal of funding to the Trust caused many aspects of operating the Historic Beach Park property in a sustainable manner to be compromised; even with the essential in -kind services being provided by other City Departments the City of Miami's annual funding contribution to the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust should be restored. 6) Whether the Board's membership requirements should be modified. The existing membership eligibility requirements for Trustees should explore the inclusion of at -large Trustees who may not reside, work or own property in the City of Miami but reside in Miami Dade County and have a strong bond with the Historic Beach Park. Otherwise, the criteria set forth by the ordinance that created the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust have served the Trust well. Submitted into the public record 1.6r item(,) - _ c�tt r+11, ! l4, City Clerk 7) The cost, both direct and indirect, of maintaining the Board. The Trust's purpose, powers and duties comprise a great responsibility to the community, which the Trust continues to fulfill with great dedication, but also with extreme difficulty due to the aforementioned financial crisis which resulted in the City of Miami's withdrawal of all direct operational appropriations to the Trust. The Trust requires an annual City of Miami contribution for community outreach, security, special educational programming, promotional materials, cultural and historical collections management and volunteer coordination to effectively provide service to the community. HISTORIC VIRGINIA KEY BEACH PARK Submitted into the public record for itern(s) (I i on at' ti i 1p City Clerk 6 IIIPMIMINPe Air • T i CELEBRATING THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC VIRGINIA KEY BEACH PARK MIANIJ,,FIORIDA • Submitted into the public record for item(s) t onCity Clerk ,6 pinta Kea' Submitted into the public record for item(s) on ' )11 II tc City Clerk WeAeedeeeketeit i REMEMBERING OUR FOUNDING MOTHERS Verwice eevaeoPtecita 5c geteA Founding Member of the Trustee Board (February 7, 1921 - March 25, 2015) Prominent Miami pioneer business family member and legendary educator Mrs. Bernice Sawyer was appointed to the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust by the late Miami City Commissioner Arthur E. Teele, Jr., who led the effort by his fellow Commissioners to save the historic site from exclusive private development in response to broad community demand. Mrs. Sawyer served diligently until her physical disabilities and health concerns forced her to step down from her seat. She will always be fondly remembered for her sage insights and depth of knowledge of Miami's, and the Historic Beach Park's history. At right is a Resolution passed by the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust for presentation to her family. 'r tsotutior heeras, fibs. Merillrr (arum rgtllt lya Won o.,.a pia two. born M1liam fah, and a member of one of hf o mi i irolf w plower 4 milk,. with deep routs in, Slid knowledge of. both the Aahamax and the historic. O.e•roo Ion eommun rly. and Whereas. she rah ibned a passia n for learn 1 ne a, Id ea ri m,u rl icaNwl skills hi r Pw•r youth, earning her a Rrorr re Sear Award torfounralnrn, skirls which she woakd carry into her prrncursr,r,aP career as an cm mplary reacher who was keenP a of the value it Id no:c cry al education as an after Y Karr Whrrru. her lrkla set to her rommunily; and her had aarr her Concern with commr,nnr uphR and mhallrtr chi w lid the !arc ttiUlam R.'Rill' Swyef rnmrl nmc nsalsa rlara tE Fh-afeth Pio[el the finest establishmen. alibi kind. w nr to making s Ake,an Whereas, AIM Sowyrr•s anlCnr dni- rtram rnq trlrbritlea"en lo, Pr Pact ofsuch 10d dauuu: cPuPkrlas r Icalion to the weld -boil! z f Uv a! rrsidalts Ake, and A he do unction wroe in 8 rrtawn, arch fll r11 her not such nutahk arrd well-akarrycd -we 2. by expresswayronstrnCitnrh earned her ands and rrrpglfil M7lu; and Numerous Whrrc.s tier decades or commitment led to her being 11A3428 by the fate City or Mum r Comrprn ,inhurr ric•, k: to serer on Ihr V'rrkI 22,2 Key ch I charged with Adviaury ed. and uPtimateiyso . founding R1eember or the Vugi Talk force. alyd a k T,15( In ly 4on PTF r the rCrtarar bn mid rr I11imc rgilrwt Key Reach Park gored V KRPTat an huto riC and canrlronmcnral ragd�nargnf Mlmonik olsGmr mueh•belasmd only 'colored Roach' sl• faced at that pain in her bk, from Yr'rgip lk. nra h[+h ran served faahfuBPy,deepatr glut h sis. h at Y5. and P Y xP challrrls wiii Whereas.anf slier hong ebbgared ro reslgi from the VKRPT Ao:.M by heahh WWI. Mrs fter,tnc r Y voted by her colleagues to be a Pak Skmber 231 August I, 2hd5, t e P anrlireaciry of ahx huraric Par kk opening in I945, and was preferred pith a Ro slutro� Mr awn by lheu•M h audmark tiUrh ayar.tfarwrl A. lalur, old i of tht Gov o! Wrherrac, on the rkicasion of her paccing 011 from Itur tardily late oil March 25, 2trl Li nwi(e Ulan drriervIng of ablk err P agnnran, rrlbute, and gmurtde, � her exrmpluy Pik 3.1.3r It Received rr, the Roard of the Virginia Key Reach Park Trust, rho M1drY. Amine (:artwrieht Sew Per: name he euseancrd In I Pk A roah of the k,': Nembrr, wham the City at ,lli 7aridrUst rn P*odd have a en Divinely a Puphly favored to have coon red amol our the patron, and rhr world he yr, py aiatiW exemplar Cfdedicated and citJ our number, to be rccogl!lrrd by osterl rased and grnrmtic ei4rrnship. P- IY as a diatirlgutahad 'Fth,c nth day or'April, 2015, Giver by the hoard of Taunres or the Virgins i:ry Reath Park Trull at rta regular Prrhrie hoard +weathrg 4.rwi linear.{ 5.,- --~_ --- w Mai cmiew,SErwurr ;t.ud x'tzdn. 'lly 1 Mw+43.1'F recur/, rvuacv _-- Ph 1'3.21.1 lode_, y, 4..6 w.r — - R r9niAN. •pF. a,q. 7nawra, 4V.,u Cwya., •, w, t�.Y r.vew,, 1.azyI144 genYWe Submitted into the public record far items) jj- 1 :-rn :31 II des City Clerk Vteeeaar4e4: REMEMBERING OUR FOUNDING MOTHER Founding Secretary of the Trustee Board (February 7, 1921 - March 25, 2015) Disobedience in A better selection to hold a seat on the Board of the Virginia Key Beach Park Trust when it was established by the City of Miami Commissioners in 2001 could hardly have been made than Mrs. Eugenia B. Thomas, widow of the late attorney Lawson E. Thomas, who would become one of the South's first black judges since Reconstruction and Miami-Dade's first black judge. It was attorney Lawson Thomas who famously led the bold community act of Civil 1945 that led to the creation of the County's only legally designated "Colored Beach" on Virginia Key, fully a decade before such tactics as wade -ins would become a common strategy of the Civil Rights movement. Mrs. Thomas's moving recall of the morning of that courageous planned confrontation with the Dade County Sheriff in 1945, when she "was prepared not to ever see him alive again" was a very significant reminder of how serious the struggle to gain a "Colored Beach" actually was (since the demonstrators might have been confronted with KKK thugs rather than the Sheriff, and became a turning point in the successful negotiations with the City to restore, rather than develop the historic site of Virginia Key Beach. Mrs. Thomas was especially known as an avid educator and activist for the Parent Teachers Association (PTA), and has been honored by the naming of a Miami -Dade public school in her honor. Eugenia B. Thomas K-8 Center, Miami, FL Submitted into the public record for items) l on 1 f t ! 11, . City Cork 71(4W/rafted: REMEMBERING OUR FOUNDING MOTHERS Mu. Wt. ififatedie Reutes Founding Chairperson of the VKBPT Trustee Board (November 7, 1915 - November 14, 2006) OOts Affefeecte14244# 11614, Retarte:1 Vera Without any doubt, the broad community effort to reclaim, restore, and reopen Historic Virginia Key Beach Park,. which had been closed and neglected for more than 25 years, could never have succeeded without the leadership, vision, and dedication of the late iconic Miami matriarch Mrs. M. Athalie Range, who enthusiastically took up the cause in her eighties, in spite of her many other obligations and responsibilities. Her long history of selfless an courageous contributions to the betterment of Miami and South Florida, and the deep respect that she had earned among elected officials and other prominent players proved vital to their embrace of the community's vision for a brighter future of this fondly remembered locale as a nationally recognized historic and environmental landmark than the misguided attempt to turn the citizen -owned site over to private developers for construction of an exclusive resort. A small -but -significant Remembrance ceremony of her 100th birthday also served as an opening observance of Native American Heritage Month, and of the Indigenous history and heritage of the Park. Right: Carib Tribal Indian Queen Mrs. Catherine Hummingbird Ramirez with VKBPT Board Chair Gene Tinnie in the Park's Chickee Village for a ceremony honoring Native American Hreritage Month. Above: Mrs. Range's portrait shown next to the Park's State Historical Marker, with the historic Concession Stand in the background. Submitted into the public record for itemis) on 11 iL., City Icrz Reoteadeiteaf THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROTEST Remembering protest that led to open- ing first beach for black Miamians NO ARRESTS: Negroes Test Beach Rights At Haulover A group of negsoes laid testing their right to use county owned bath in g b eaches trooped up to Baker's haujover area Wednesday afternoon to splash in the surf off the proposed county park They advised Sherif]. limmY Sullivan% office in advance of their intention. White officers. called also by neighboring residents. went to the scene and questioned some of the 50 or 60 bathers but made no attempt to arrest them - The t'athers arrived in a motorcade. stayed about an hour and departed. Sheriff's Deputy R.O. Scruggs said he had been told of negate plans, but had subjectdvised that. there was no law under which theyService judge Henderson. president of thegthe auspices of the Citizens league. said the affair was arranged under league strictly -as a test of our rights" "1.,4 Weren't arrested, so as far as t know we will be going, to the beach from now on: he commented. ''If they atrrst us, we will appeal so the courts.` beach available to Henderson said negroes have no bathing them now. and plans for establishing one on Virginia Beach have not shown any progress. He declared Wednesday% move was not talon with the idea of causing trouble, but ordy as a step ro obtain some bathing beach facilities. The Miami 1 945 Above; Reproduction of The Miami Herald article reporting the Tuesday May 9. 1945, protest at Baker's Haulover, reflecting the "official" police version of the event. By Glenn Garvin, Michael J. Sainato and Lance Dixon ggarvin@MiamiHerald.com They are all dead now — probably; some of their names have been lost to time, so there's no way to be certain — and there's no way to ask them if they knew they were making history. But theseven black people who splashed into the water at all -white Haulover Beach 70 years ago this weekend set off ripples that would eventually turn into the most profound social upheaval in American history, the civil rights movement. "What they did was very, very significant," said Miami historian and preservationist Enid Pinkney, 83, then a teenager who followed the events at Haulover closely. "I can't say for sure it was the first act of civil disobedience for civil rights. But it was certainly one of the very early ones, not just in Florida but in the whole South." The protest, nearly a decade before the national civil-rights movement began to take hold, quickly resulted in what was then Dade County opening a beach to its black citizens for the first time, And it touched off nearly two decades of sit-ins and demonstrations to integrate restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and everything else in the county. A handful of people gathered Saturday morning at Haulover Beach to commemorate the history of the "wade - in." Among them was 86-year-old Mary Hill, a local activist and founder of the New Day human services program in the 1960s, who said she played a role in planning the protest when she was only a teenager. "When I was young I used to go up and down and see the beaches and wonder why they were all white," Hill said- "We have come from a mighty long way. Back then, we had no beach, we had no place to put our feet." After sharing some thoughts and reflections on the past, some members of the group waded into the water like the seven people did back in 1945. "It's very humbling to be in the presence of those who were here during that period;" said architect Neil Hall. "They're the reason why I'm here today." Saturday's ceremony was part of a year -long series of events celebrating the 70th anniversary of Virginia Key Beach, which opened in 1945 as a blacks - only beach in response to the Haulover Beach wade -in. (Continued) 2015 The 70th Anniveersary Remembrance at present-day 1-iaulovber Beach, site of the 1945 protest, garnered front-page coverage in the Miami Herald, Sunday, May 9, 2015. History lesson: Gene Tinnie, left, talks to a small group about the 1945 protests at Haulover that led to the creation Virginia Key, which initially was designated as black only, Peter Andrew Bosch - Miami Herald stag Remembrance (continued) It was also the second event in two days commemorating significant places and events in South Florida's black history- A gaggle of local officials and VIPs gathered Friday in Brownsville for the grand opening of the restored Hampton House, for decades the only place black visitors could stay in Miami during the segregation era. The Haulover Beach wade -in, by contrast, was hardly noticed at all when it took place — at least in white Miami. But in the black part of town, it was like a thunderclap. In the early years of the 20th century, when Miami and Miami Beach were barely cities and most of the beaches lay well away from populated areas, there were few rules about their use. By the 1920s, however, all two dozen or so beaches were reserved for whites only. "There was no place for black people to go in the water in Dade," Pinkney recalled last week. "If you wanted to set foot in the ocean, you had to go up to Broward, which was quite a drive then" Young black daredevils would sometimes venture onto Haulover or the long stretch of undeveloped beach north of the Fontainebleau Hotel, but at their considerable peril. "If they were spotted, they'd at least get chased off, or Submitted into the public rccor fo item(s) b1 i_, on , , f I 1( _ Clerk THE 711ITH A NN I Y ERSA R Y OFTHEHAULOVER BEACH PROTEST sometimes put in jail for disorderly conduct;" said Garth Reeves, 96, whose family has been publishing the Miami Times newspaper in the black community since 1923. "And an arrest record in those days was serious — that could really follow you around, keep you from getting jobs. There was always something keeping us away from those beaches." Blacks had chafed under the beach restrictions for years, but World War II raised the temperature considerably. First, thousands of black military men from unsegregated parts of the country trooped through town, expressing surprise and anger that they couldn't use Miami's fabled beaches. Then local soldiers began returning from the war, wondering why they had been fighting for freedom in Europe and the Pacific that they didn't have at home. "The subtext of all this is that the war is winding down and black soldiers are coming home, and a lot of them are talking about what they called the Double-V, victory abroad, victory at home," said Gene Tinnie, a former FIU humanities professor who is now chairman of the Virginia Key Beach Trust. "They said, `If there's going to be freedom and equality over there abroad, then we should have it here"' Nonetheless, the Haulover wade -in didn't have a very radical objective. The idea was not to integrate white beaches, only to get one set aside for Hacks. "They were really just trying to make the county live up to the rule of segregation, which was `separate but equal;' said Tinnie_ You couldn't say things were equal when white people had nearly 30 beaches and black people didn't have any.. The wade -in was planned by a group ofcommunity leaders who belonged to the Negro Citizens Service League, a forerunner of the Urban League. It called for a large group assembled from the congregations of black churches to assemble at Haulover and go into the water. Attorney Lawson Thomas, who years later would become the county's first judge,. stood by on the shore with a wad of cash in his pocket to pay bail when the protesters were arrested. Some of the organizers privately believed that arrest was the very least of the things they had to worry about. Thomas' wife, Eugenia, would later confide to friends that when he left for the beach, she never expected to see him alive again. Mary Hill, the founder of the New Day Human services program, listens to Gene Tinnie talk to a small group of people in an informal re- enactment Saturday of the 1945 protest at Haulover. That protest led to the creation of the Reach on Virginia Key Beach where black people could swim. Peter Andrew Bosch - Miami Herald staff "There was no guarantee that the sheriff would be the one to show up and greet these demonstrators," said Tinnie. who in the 1990s interviewed many family members of the Remembrance (continued) protesters. "It could easily have been somebody from the Ku Klux Klan, and then you're looking at a whole different outcome." As it turned out, though, neither the Klan nor almost anybody else showed up on the afternoon of May 9, 1945_ Although the ,Miami Herald, apparently relying on the ward of police, would report the next morning that "50 or 60" protesters went swimming, the protesters themselves said later that only two people showed up at the scheduled time. One of the planners, a black labor -union official named Judge Henderson, scurried around town, rounding up volunteers, including two U.S. Navy sailors he ran into. Others who went into the water included two grocers, Otis Mundy and May Dell Braynon, and Annie Coleman, founder of the Overtown Women's Club. (Like Thomas and Henderson, Mundy, Braynon and Coleman all died years ago.) Now that a team of protesters had assembled, just one thing was lacking: Sorne police to arrest them. Since nobody had called the cops, Henderson did it himself. But when Dade's affable sheriff, Smiling Jimmy Submitted into she public recordjf'or 'temisl bt on 311T4, City Clerk A group of bathers on Virginia Key Beach. Black Archives Sullivan showed up, he wouldn't play his part. "Come on out of the water, because he's going to put you all in jail," the attorney Lawson Thomas called out to demonstrators as he prepared to pull out his bail money. Interrupted the sheriff: "Now, you know I can't do that. But they're not supposed to be in there' Thomas turned to the protesters. "Go back in then, he instructed them. "They had this strange back - and -forth for quite a while;' said the Virginia Key Beach Trust's Tinnie. "The sheriff would say, `Ya'li know you're not supposed to do that, so come out.' And they would say, `Well, if you're not gonna arrest us, we're gonna stay:' Tinnie believes that city officials had warned the sheriff they didn't want trouble. "The war is ending, Miami is opening to the world, it's all about tourists and sun and fun;" he said. "You don't want to besmirch the image...Arresting a bunch of black people for swimming might have played well in the rest of the South, but not to tourists from Europe." The sheriff finally gave up and went home, followed soon by the protesters, who thought they'd lost. They were wrong — less than a month later, the country announced that Virginia Key Beach would become its first "colored beach" It opened on Aug_ 1, 1945. The beach, at first, was less than ideal, especially because the Rickenbacker Causeway hadn't been built yet and the only way to reach Virginia Key was by boat. So many black beach - bathers lined up for the trip on weekends that it could take two hours to cross_ But the half -mile -long beach and the 82-acre park surrounding it were steadily upgraded, with concession stands, cabanas, a dance floor, carousel and even a mini -train to travel the grounds. By 1959 its reputation was so alluring that it was featured in a story in Look magazine. But by then, separate but equal was no longer enough to satisfy Miami's black population. Miami Times publisher Garth Reeves remembers that when he returned home after serving nearly four years in the U.S. Army during World War II and discovered the county had a black beach, "it was the happiest time of my life." "When 1 left for the war, there wasn't any integration anywhere" around Miami, Reeves said. "That was true segregation. I went to an all - black high school and an all - black college. Every damn thing was dosed to us So he loved Virginia Key Beach. But it was still an artifact of segregation, and that gnawed at him. "The county had 28 Submitted into the public record for item(s) lD 1. Ire ort + t City Clerk Remembrance (continued) municipal beaches, and we were restricted to one, the so-called colored beach;' Reeves said. "That didn't set right for me!' In the mid-1950s, Reeves and other black community leaders filed a suit to open the rest of the beaches. It didn't go anywhere, even though the county attorney's office told the surprised Reeves that they weren't even sure there was an actual law segregating the beaches. Finally, in November 1959, Reeves and 11 other black leaders asked Dade County commissioners to meet with them at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne, then the crown jewel of the county recreation system. "We called the meeting for 10 a.m.; Reeves remembered. " We said, `We're citizens, were taxpayers, and we want to use public beaches.What are you going to do about this situation?'.. "They didn't really have anything to say in return, so we told them we would be back at 2 p.m. and we were going to go into the water. You want to beat us up or put us in jail, go ahead, we said.' When the group returned at 2 p.m., just like the Haulover Beach wade -in, its membership had unaccountably shrunk to five, all men, wearing bathing trunks under their suits_ They heard noise from the Crandon bath house and — fearing they would be jumped inside ---- avoided it, walking directly down to the beach, where they shed shoes and clothing and walked into the ocean. "And what happened was nothing," a chuckling Reeves remembered, "No county commissioners came, no police came. So we swam around for 15 or 20 minutes, and left:' just as it had in 1945, the county quietly folded its hand. "We sent our people to six or eight other public beaches the next day, just to be sure, and nobody said anything to them, either;' said Reeves. "So that was the end of segregated beaches" Ironically, integration killed Virginia Key Beach. The crowds thinned, maintenance declined and its reputation turned dodgy. In 1982 it closed, only to be resurrected in 2008 as an ecological park and historic site. And, says Tinnie, as a symbol of what could have been for the rest of the South — a civil rights achievement not pockmarked by bullets, billy clubs, bombs or the teeth of police dogs - "Miami was not Birmingham, with all the hate and divisiveness; said Tinnie. "This was something better This was a place where two populations learned to respect each other" A previous version of this story listed the wrong date for the founding of the Miami Times newspaper. The paper began publishing in 1923. Read more here: http:// www,miamiherald.com/ news/local/community/ miam i-dade/ar ticle20608311. html#storylink=cpy �r�t"ed_a,„44J'��ati/ CITY OF MIAMI VIRGIN -IA KEY BEACH PARK TRUST