Currents Magazine
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Pompano Beach, Florida All America City Winner June 23-25, 2005
"Pompano Beach – Feels Like Home," "Pompano Beach – Feels Like Home," "Pompano Beach – Feels Like Home."
That was the chant as the city's delegation marched, with banner held high, into the auditorium and onto the stage in front of the nine judges from the National Civic League. The group formed a village on the stage, with some holding large blue poles with scale models of houses sitting atop them. The miniature homes were decorated with large images of life in and around Pompano Beach, with each of the four sides having an image that followed the story line of the presentation. Mayor John Rayson carried a banner printed with the Pompano Beach – Feels Like Home theme, while City Manager William Hargett, marched along side him.
One by one, city employees and resident volunteers of all ages, recited information inside the presentation, as the houses turned in sync to display the photos to the judges. To end, when queued by Reverend Howard's last sentence, music begins and the players begin to stack the houses in front of the judges and assume positions all around the stage, ending the presentation with the stacked houses forming a large poster displaying the theme and being surrounded by actors holding posters with palm trees painted on front and the words Home, Heart, Hope, Health.
After the flawless presentation, the players submitted to questions from the judges, during the final ten minutes. These questions could be anything, and thus were not rehearsed. Several members of the team fielded the questions with multilevel answers and handoffs to other members for follow-ups and emphasis. Most of the questions centered on the city programs for children, specifically the Junior Life Guard Program and the Kidz 'N the Hood Program. During the day following the awards in conversations with the judges, it was discovered that the Q & A segment of the presentation was weighted heavily this year and that means the city players were sharp and eloquent. With the final word being that the judges were impressed by the fact that Pompano's program were and are actually, run by the children, whereas other cities seemed to have children show-up for programs controlled by adults.
The Junior Life Guard Program teaches children more than swimming. The program has an ongoing training for making the right life choices – choosing healthy eating vs. junk food, etc. thus battling the current and growing trend of childhood obesity.
The Kidz 'N the Hood Program has local, mostly minority children producing a television show about their neighborhoods and city. This has saved numbers of children from the perils of turning away from society toward drugs and violence. The attending members of the Program told the judges about their experiences, which included scholarships to college for both.
The third program presented to the judges was the Pinnacle Village housing development, which replaced the dangerous eyesore of old. This program is allowing low-income citizens to purchase new town homes with landscaped grounds providing a safe environment for the families, with federally subsidized mortgages.