The Grove may be dark this 4th of July

At the BID (Business Improvement Meeting) Thursday morning, Coconut Grove's 4th of July was discussed. We may not have fireworks at Peacock Park this year. Nothing is definite at this point, but it looks as if the Chamber of Commerce is out of the fireworks business. And I can't say that I blame them, for one thing, not many people knew the Chamber was putting on the event and another thing, it wasn't really put  on too well because it lacked funding. So it was a thankless job for the Chamber.

In the past, the Chamber tried to make money on the event by selling beer and drinks and hosting food vendors, which were few and far between. The best year was when there were food trucks, but the Grove is so prejudiced against the trucks, that they won't be back, so a few vendors are set up and it really doesn't matter because people bring their own picnics, which I don't blame them for either.

It all came down to the fireworks which were not really appreciated by the crowds because they felt they were too short. Figures go from about 9 to 12 minutes, but at $1000 a minute as the cost, it wasn't much.

One other event that has disappeared is the Coconut Scavenger Hunt, that was a lot of fun, but it ended up all falling on my shoulders and I've been going up north for July 4th week these past couple of years, so there is no Coconut Hunt any more, as all of my helpers, and there used to be plenty, have all flown the coop. In the last year or so, we didn't even paint the coconuts, we used the left over ones, but I was stuck lugging them around, making up the clues then physically hiding them early on July 4th morning, which took hours. 2011 was the last year.

For a couple of years we had the fire shows and cirque du soleil shows with Cirque du Grove. Those were held the whole 4th of July weekend.

2010 may have been the peek year for 4th of July in Coconut Grove, even Lucie and Desi Arnaz Jr. where here! There was something going on from morning to night.

CocoWalk still has the hot dog eating contest and The Barnacle still has their old fashioned picnic, but the two big events, the Coconut Hunt and the Fireworks seem to be a thing of the past, although as I said, maybe not the fireworks, there is hope that the City of Miami will bare the cost and throw the show, but with other fireworks put on by the City, like in downtown at Bayside, and with Coral Gables and Key Biscayne putting on fireworks shows, I don't see it happening here unless a group steps up and takes the event on.

It is expensive at $1000 a minute, this is a great business. we read about high tech jobs, this is a high priced techno job. The BID has offered $8000 to the Chamber to put on the event, but the Chamber pays $50,000 or more for the whole park event with music, food, drinks and fireworks and they don't really reap any rewards. I brought up the fact that the Chamber should do it just for the sake of keeping the tradition alive, but that's easier said than done.

So right now, it's not sure if we'll have fireworks in Peacock Park this year. Above you see our Grove Spider-man, Shaun, he isn't even around anymore. So much is changing in the Grove that made this place the Grove. I do hope the US flags go up in June before Flag Day as they usually do. At least that gives us some semblance of 4th of July.