The Historic Virginia Key Beach Park will host the second annual Fun in the Sun Youth environmental festival (FISY) from 12 to 8 p.m., Saturday, May 1, 2010.
Outdoor activities include environmental projects, ocean conservation talks, sea grass adventure tours, healthy cooking demonstrations and games and prizes.
Environmental education and awareness is part of the historic tradition of the park, which officially opened in 1945 as a county facility for blacks only during the era of segregation.
Planning with and for the unique natural environment on the barrier island has been integral part of park’s community-led restoration. To that end, the federally funded project that restored the interior wetlands, tropical hardwood hammock and coastal dunes was done in concert with restoration of the historic site and recreational amenities that now exist.
In December 2000, the Virginia Key Civil Rights Task Force submitted a report to the City of Miami that stressed the significance of creating a “conservation buffer zone” as part of the “historic” experience. The report stated: "Oral testimonies, re-creations and photographic documentation indicate that these natural features were an integral part of the appeal of Virginia Key Beach Park and contributed significantly to its being considered a special place."
The festival is an attempt to reach out to a new generation of environmental stewards.
The late M. Athalie Range, the chairperson of the Virginia Key Civil Rights Task Force, described the challenges in reaching out to youth and newcomers:
“The fast-changing world in which we live makes it very difficult for our younger generations and for those who arrived in Miami in more recent years to appreciate why Virginia Key beach is such and important and special place to restore and preserve. Certainly for African Americans who remember it as ‘the only place we could go’ during the segregation area, there are no words that can summarize or describe what it meant to have this beautiful gathering place which brought together baptisms and religious services, courtships and honeymoon, organizational gatherings, visiting celebrities and general family recreation. This experience would be shared by some of the earliest arriving Cuban refugee families, and eventually, after desegregation, by everyone who could enjoy this precious natural retreat located right in the City, yet serene and free from view of large buildings. ...We have become even more aware of the Park’s unique and fragile natural environment and how valuable it is to a city with no other large-scale natural preserve.”
The historic Virginia Key Beach Park is located at 4020 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami (second beach entrance right before Bear Cut Bridge as you’re heading south towards Key Biscayne). The event is free; parking fees still apply.
Virginia Key Beach Park also has a children’s playground, nature trails in restored wetlands and along sandy dunes, picnic areas and barbecue stands. Vintage amusement rides include the Biscayne Virginia Rickenbacker Central Miniature Train Ride and the Allan Herschell Vintage Carousel (separate fees apply for amusement rides).
More info on the park: http://www.virginiakeybeachpark.net/
FISY event video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PQR6DEFtoU
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