A Lifetime of Achievement: Honoring Contributors

Frances Bourque: A Lifetime of Achievement.

On Friday night, the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce will honor three special people at its annual Luminary Gala at the Delray Marriott.

The Conde Center, founded by Dr. John Conde, will be named Business of the Year.
Pedro Andrade, GM of Anthony’s Coal Fire Pizza, will be honored as Business Person of the Year.
And Frances Bourque–the extraordinary Frances– will win a much deserved “Lifetime Achievement Award”.
All three represent the best of Delray Beach, people whose work in the community make them invaluable.
I’m glad that after a years break, the Chamber has restored its awards program. It’s important to recognize good people, say thanks and hopefully inspire others to strive.

To be honest, I don’t think we say thanks enough to the special people who give their time, talents and treasure to our community. If we fail to show gratitude and recognize service, we miss an opportunity to educate newcomers and our children. And we risk that important and noteworthy contributions will be missed–and as a result, the history of our city risks being incomplete.

The three Chamber honorees this year are truly deserving and very special.

The Conde Center enjoys a stellar reputation for advancing the health and wellness of its clientele.
Founded in 2006 by Dr. John Conde, the Conde Center for Chiropractic Neurology is known for its state of the art equipment and caring staff.
As a result, the Center has grown in size and now employs 10 people.
Despite a fast growing practice, Dr. Conde serves on several non profit boards and the city’s Downtown Development Authority. He’s involved in the community and finds many ways to support Delray. Over the years, I’ve quietly referred several people to the center.

One of my best friends is a chiropractic physician in California and I’ve learned to appreciate the difference these practitioners can make in people’s lives. I’ve never had anyone complain after visiting the Conde Center. I do hear a lot of raving reviews.

Mr. Andrade is another individual who finds myriad ways to support the community.
Quite simply, he’s a go-to person in Delray. If there’s a good cause, you know Pedro will be there.
He’s just a terrific guy and it feels good to see him honored.
I remember when we approved the restaurant way back when. I had received a letter from a neighbor concerned about “coal emissions” a reference to Anthony’s pizza cooking method.
That’s how new coal fired pizza was back then. Not to worry, all Anthony’s does is make amazing pizza and the best wings imaginable. No smoke stacks.

Which leads me to Frances.
What can one say about Frances Bourque?
She’s my personal heroine. And she serves that role for many many others.
The founder of Old School Square is truly an historic figure in our community. Her work has impacted a generation and will continue to impact Delray forever. There’s not too many people you can say that about.
She continues to be a leadership force in our community teaching us, focusing us and inspiring us.
In short, she’s a treasure.
To see her receive a lifetime achievement award will be a thrill for so many.
Because in so many ways, she personifies the best of Delray: visionary, aspirational, inspirational, historic, formidable, complex, loving and smart.
See you at the Gala…three special  honorees recognized by an important community anchor: our Chamber.

Old School Square Makes Us A Village

The anchor is a beacon.

We went to a great party Sunday afternoon to celebrate a generous donation to Old School Square.

And we were reminded about how art builds community.

Margaret and Robert Blume stepped up to make the transformation of the Cornell Museum possible.
When the newly renovated museum re-opens in November, we predict that visitors to the space will be amazed.

As Old School Square CEO Rob Steele puts it: the museum will become an important community asset for Delray Beach with profound and enduring benefits.
That’s exactly what it should be. Community museums and art centers are meant to be treasured assets valued by residents, tourists and artists.

None of this would be possible without the generosity of donors like the Blume’s, dedicated staff (and Old School Square has a terrific staff), a committed board, volunteers and a supportive city.
It really does take a village.

The Blume’s were taken by Old School Square’s story and it’s importance to the community and stepped up as a result.
Let’s face it, when it comes to philanthropic dollars there is enormous competition. You have to have a compelling mission and an ability to deliver in order to stand a chance with so many worthy causes to choose from.

Those of us who are board members and fans of Old School Square are hopeful that others will be inspired to step up and help Old School Square in its important mission. Rob and his dedicated team have created naming rights and other opportunities for philanthropy and involvement.

Here’s hoping that many seize the opportunity to shape the future. Old School Square is a special place and plays a central role in our community.

I’m reading a great book by musician Dar Williams called “What I Found in a Thousand Towns” which is devoted to the observations of an artist who has spent a life on the road.
Ms. Williams is a self taught urban anthropologist and her eyes have been trained to see what works in towns she visits that thrive.
In her book, she notes a concept she calls “positive proximity” —or the creation of spaces where people can gather, meet, talk, experience music, art and community.
Sound familiar?

That was the genius of Frances Bourque’s idea when she looked at a dilapidated old school sitting on the very best real estate in town.
She saw a place that could be the focal point of our city. A place that could build community.

Over the years, Old School Square has delivered.

It’s where we practiced for our All America City awards, where we gathered to light the Christmas tree and Menorah, where we thanked volunteers, where we held a vigil after 9/11 and where we met as neighbors to discuss race relations.
It’s also where we met to discuss our downtown master plan, where we have lit unity candles on MLK Day and where we attended weddings and other important personal celebrations.
In its classrooms, we have seen artists of all ages learn and explore their passions. On its stages, we have experienced magic.

Old School Square is our most important asset. It belongs to everyone. It honors our past, informs our present and speaks to our future.
And it needs our help. Now more than ever.

We need to complete our parks plan, reinvent for the future and make the most of the amphitheater.
If we fulfill its promise, we will remain a strong community. In  a world that’s increasingly polarized and growing more remote thanks to technology (and fear of one another) we risk losing “positive proximity.”
That’s a loss we may never recover from and will be sure to regret.
Old School Square was the key to Delray’s revitalization three decades ago. It’s even more important to our future.

The Unsung Heroes Make All The Difference

Marc Stevens was surprised by Old School Square CEO Rob Steele.

There’s beauty and power in the everyday.
There’s gold in the things we take for granted. There’s value in every member of the team– even though we often focus on the star quarterback.
The board of Old School Square was reminded of these profound truths at its recent annual meeting when President Rob Steele recognized Marc Stevens for 19 years of hard work and stellar performance.
If you’ve been to Old School Square any time during the past two decades chances are you’ve seen Marc or at least benefitted from his work.
Marc is a quiet guy who shuns the spotlight but he’s been a vital piece of Delray’s cultural center for a very long time.
Marc is always quick with a smile and a wave when you see him. And it seems like he’s always working at Old School Square…days, nights, weekends, holidays. He’s a constant.
And because he’s a constant,  it might be easy to forget just how important his work has been.
But Rob Steele is an extraordinary leader–just like Joe Gillie was– for so many years. And the best leaders recognize their team and build them up. Rob gets that and it’s genuine. He truly appreciates his team and it’s wonderful to see. It makes all the difference.
So at the end of the recent annual meeting, which was a celebration of accomplishments, a thank you to departing board members and a hello to new members, Rob and his team honored Marc for his work.
He was surprised and deeply moved.
Marusca Gatto, who runs the Cornell Museum, mentioned how artists love how Marc hangs their work often mentioning that their art has never looked as good as when it’s displayed and lit by Marc.
Wow. Isn’t that cool?
Others talked of his selfless hard work, his dedication and his deep knowledge of how to run so much of what makes Old School Square magical.
It was a warm and fitting ending to a great annual meeting.
Old School Square is a community treasure. There’s no doubt.

It’s historic buildings are beautiful and it’s activities and offerings are hugely beneficial to our city.
But I was reminded that the true heat and soul of the organization are the people who dedicate themselves to Old School Square’s success.
Founder Frances Bourque–my hero… Delray’s hero… who knew all those years ago that those dilapidated old buildings could be the source of our revival, board chair Bill Branning who has been there from the beginning and felt something special about the place and has never left, vice chair Bill Morris, a caring gentleman whose heart is dedicated to this town, Scott Porten, a former chair who dives in to projects with passion and smarts, Melissa Carter for 18 years the super marketer of Delray’s arts and on and on it goes. From Jay in the box office and Liane in education to the hardworking finance, museum and lighting team–it’s the people who make the organization so incredibly special and vital.
Board member and artist Patricia McGuire painted a beautiful picture of Marc. You could tell it was a labor of love.
And that’s the best description I can give of Old School Square..a labor of love. Which is why it works so well.

In appreciation…

 

History Must Be Used & Experienced

 

Vin Nolan has experience and can sing karaoke.

Vin Nolan has experience and can sing karaoke.

Editor’s Note: We are taking a break and will be back after Labor Day. Thanks for reading and for your feedback. Be safe and keep an eye on the tropics.

Last week, we wrote about the launch of a civic boot camp at the Delray Chamber of Commerce.

The four week class is designed to engage and inform people who are interested in running for public office or serving on a board.

This is the first time the chamber has done such a class. This effort is different than Leadership Delray, because it is more focused on politics and public policy.

Since it is designed by the chamber, the content of the class is notably and unapologetically “pro-business” and emphasizes the importance of economic development. Tonight, former Delray Economic Development Director Vin Nolan will be the guest speaker.

Vin has what they call in the biz “chops.”

He’s a certified economic developer with lots of real world experience. He is currently heading up efforts at the Small Business Development Center at Palm Beach State College and also has background as an elected official in Connecticut. So he brings a broad range of experience and understanding to the process. He knows what works and he knows what doesn’t.

I’ve learned a lot from Vin about economic development and one key concept sticks out: the need to take advantage of good business cycles and the importance of doing what you can to minimize the damage from down economies. Imagine economic development as climbing a mountain. In good times you can reach decent heights, but inevitably the cycle ends and you slip a little. The key, Vin has taught me, is not to allow yourself to plummet off a cliff. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to make the climb again.

Probably, the best way to hedge against a free fall is to land investments during good times that build on the strengths of your community and create lasting value.

I think Delray Beach and Boca Raton have done a good job with that in years past. It was proven during the great recession when despite deep and considerable pain—foreclosures, job loss, a dead real estate market—the cities survived relatively intact. Atlantic Avenue may not have seen much in the way of new business, but it didn’t suffer vacancy or desolation either. The same can be said for Mizner Park and downtown Boca’s eastern “spine.” Good planning, solid vision and bold implementation got us through the historic downturn. We survived.

I think that’s a good indication that our community has created value and some degree of economic resiliency. But that strength—which would be the envy of many cities nationwide—does not mean we can afford to grow complacent or smug. After all, success is never final. We must always be thinking about ways to solidify our gains and add new sources of investment and healthy growth to our cities.

When those in leadership positions fail to understand that dynamic, they risk our success. In other words, you can screw up a good thing.

Last week’s kick-off also featured an inspiring speech by the great Frances Bourque, the visionary behind Old School Square. Frances shared her journey with the class, most of who are relatively new to Delray and probably didn’t know that the cultural center was once a blighted, abandoned school surrounded by a chain link fence in the heart of the downtown.

Frances is such a powerful speaker it’s hard not to get swept up in her passion for the arts, history and community. But out of a thousand lessons she can impart, one rang especially true for me after listening to her talk last week: in order for history to be appreciated and loved, it needs to be experienced and used.

So…Frances told the group that while historic sites need to be maintained they also need to embrace the public by providing access. They need to be used and enjoyed in order to be loved and protected. And that’s the mission of Old School Square; to be a gathering place for the community. Listening to Frances tell the story, reminds us all of how fortunate we are to have a facility such as Old School Square and to have had visionaries like Frances who saw what that old abandoned school could be.

These types of lessons and information are so vital and they need to be shared in order for a community to keep progressing. In the end, we are all stewards (if we choose to be) and our responsibility is to leave a place better than we found it. Sometimes that means the place will be different, that’s inevitable. But it’s always helpful to glean lessons from the past, because they do inform your future if you are willing to listen and learn.

A Word About Congress Avenue

Found this in my inbox this morning from Jim Smith, chairman of SAFE, Safety as Floridians Expect, and a member of the Congress Avenue Task Force.

Thank you Christina Morrison and SAFE Director of Community Outreach Director Carol Anderson for your comments supporting the Delray Congress Avenue Task Team recommendations.

 In case you missed it, during the City Commission Meeting, Christina said that the Commission should approve the Task Force’s recommendations, not just “accept and file” If you’ll recall, “accept and file” was the same action taken by a different City Commission re the 2010 Vision report that effectively buried the report in a City file cabinet. (Editor’s note: many of the same commissioners were around to “accept and file” that visions report or participated in the charrette which led to the report).

 Carol Anderson made a similar comment of support.

 There may have been other public comments supporting the task force that I missed. So, if any of you supported, I apologize for not hearing it.

 Here’s what Carol Anderson said:

 Regarding Item 7G, the Congress Ave task force report:

The Commission should not just “accept and file” but should endorse the vision by “adopting and approving” all the task force’s recommendations and direct staff to draft both a new Master Plan and the LDRs to implement it. The manager can report back and recommend contracted expertise if staff can’t handle this.

I had the privilege of chairing the Task Force that delivered what we thought was a very solid report in February outlining a series of recommendations to jumpstart economic activity and transform Congress Avenue from an underperforming corridor into “Delray’s next great street.”

More than 30 people volunteered for close to a year to craft a new updated plan building on an existing vision developed over a decade ago in reaction to the loss of Office Depot, which left a 40 acre hole in Delray.

The Task Force experience was awesome and the work they produced was excellent. One of our key recommendations was not to let the report sit and gather dust, but to immediately begin implementing the recommendations to take advantage of the economic cycle and to get traction for the updated vision. Specifically, we recommended that the Task Force morph into an implementation group, like was done in the early 2000s to ensure that the Downtown Master Plan would be more than just an exercise in talking.

In other words, here’s the report, get moving, get things done.

Once you start to see progress, you build momentum. You send a message to the private sector that you are serious about progress, not just flapping your gums.

So it’s disappointing to see that six months later, the report is being “filed and accepted”—whatever that means. I sure hope we didn’t waste the valuable time of the volunteers. I’ve heard that the city is issuing an RFP and budgeting big bucks for an outside firm to write the master plan.

Like Ms. Anderson said: why not save the money and get your Planning Department to do it? Again, this effort is not creating something entirely new. We are talking about building on zoning and codes already adopted over a decade ago. Why not update the LDR’s with the new thinking of the task force, clean up the language that no longer makes sense and get moving?

It will save money and time. The Task Force did the heavy lifting—pro bono out of a love for Delray and a belief in the vision. Let our planners do the rest and then let’s start marketing the corridor.

 

 

Discovering and Protecting the Secret Sauce

We've all experienced it: same ingredients, but different taste.

We’ve all experienced it: same ingredients, but different taste.

Most cities share similar assets.

In Florida, the cities may have beaches. In Colorado, they may be ringed by mountains. In Arizona, you may see red rock and cactus.
But we all know that special places are different. They have a different feel and special ingredients.
Just like your favorite pizzeria. Most use dough, tomatoes and sauce but the great pizza places stand out. Somehow the same ingredients just seem to taste better.

What drives the demand that’s responsible for success?

The one true advantage we all have at our fingertips is how we make people feel, and the stories we tell about our community.

I think it’s a combination of history, character (and characters), a sense of place, personality, civic pride and values–yes communities can have and should have values.

Mix it all together and you end up with a community feeling and hopefully a sense of community.

To my mind, that’s a city’s biggest asset. A feeling of community builds pride and confidence. It enables you to fall in love with a place and love leads to commitment and when people commit they make things happen.

A sense of community allows you to celebrate good news and just as important it enables you to deal with the bad stuff: tragedy, challenges and disasters –natural and man made.

I have thinking about this secret batch of ingredients as a new civic engagement boot camp kicks off this week at the Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce.

I think 15-20 folks have signed up for a four week program that touches on history, leadership, redevelopment, planning and how individuals can make a positive difference right here in Delray Beach.

I’m hoping the program goes well. And I’m hoping many more sessions are scheduled.

The first session features several Delray icons including Old School Square founder Frances Bourque, influential former CRA Director Chris Brown, longtime and now retired Chamber President Bill Wood and two fine police officers from a golden era Vincent Mintus and Tom Whatley.

In a follow up post, I will let you know what they talked about.

The first class is designed to set the stage by sharing where we came from as a community. Follow up sessions will cover economic development and the most important topic of all: leadership.

Stay tuned and we’ll share the trip. It’s a compelling story. If it’s forgotten we will surely lose our way. If we honor and learn from our past we can find answers for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges and ensure that we don’t miss opportunities.

The Power Of Civic Pride: In the Name Of Love

An image used in Memphis to foster civic pride

An image used in Memphis to foster civic pride

A few years ago, the documentary “My Tale of Two Cities” was released.

The film focused on the revival of Pittsburgh, which hit the skids in a serious way when the steel industry collapsed.

At its heart, the documentary is a love story that chronicles the passion that so many people have for the “Steel City.” But it was also a reminder that emotion plays a huge role in economic development. If people are excited about their community, you can feel it in the air; and that vibe attracts others who want to be a part of things.

Dreams can be contagious, but they only take root if you care enough about your community to dream about it.

If you love a place, your heart soars when it succeeds and it aches when it falls on hard times.

As bad as things got in Pittsburgh, conditions were even worse in Detroit. But a group of passionate people are working wonders to bring that great American city back from the brink just as Pittsburgh has reinvented itself around medicine, education and robotics.

The “Made in Detroit” movement, the amazing efforts of Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert to revive the downtown and the work of artists and entrepreneurs to breathe new life into derelict buildings is nothing short of an act of love.

And of faith.

People love Detroit too much to let it go. So it will come back, maybe not the same as it was, but strong nonetheless.

Yes, emotion plays a huge role in economic development and community building.

Leaders who “get it” try to encourage that love because they know when passion is applied mountains can be moved. When you love something you commit to it, whether it’s a business, a business district, a community garden, a cause, a street, a cultural center or a neighborhood.

We have seen it happen in Delray Beach and in Boca Raton.

I remember when entire sections of Delray were open air drug markets. I remember when you could bowl down Atlantic Avenue at 5 p.m. and not hit anything. Then it changed—it changed the moment people committed to taking back their neighborhoods and rebuilding their downtown. To be sure, physical change can take years, but when the emotional switch is flipped, the energy of a city changes. You’re building…you’re working together…you’re making things happen. It’s electric. And it’s essential.

In Boca, I remember the old mall, the one on US 1 back before they built Mizner Park. It was depressing. It seemed like the all the growth and investment were sprawling west to places beyond 441. But today, east Boca is alive.

The most valuable assets cities have can’t be measured and that’s leadership, love and a sense of community.

If you have those you will see rapid progress, you will be able to handle adversity and you will seize opportunity. If you’re lacking, you’re doomed.

If you can’t find leaders who can build community and inspire people to fall in love, you’re going to struggle and you are going to drift. Sorry, that’s the law. There’s no skirting it.

But, if you do find those special leaders then look out, because now anything and everything possible.

Once a group of people starts believing and dreaming and converting others to their cause, social movements take root and transformational change is not only possible it’s inevitable.

It often starts with a monomaniac on a mission; someone so passionate that you can’t help but buy into their vision.

In Delray, there was Nancy Hurd who believed in helping the poorest, most at-risk children in our community. From that kernel grew the Achievement Center.

There was Frances Bourque, who thought an old broken down old school in a very strategic location could become a cultural beacon and community gathering space. She was right and we have Old School Square as a result when some of the powers that be at the time wanted to level the school and build something else.

There was Rick Overman, who came from Orlando and envisioned a police department that would be devoted to building neighborhoods and making our city safe for investment and a better quality of life. Within a year or two, he changed the culture of the department, enlisted over 1,000 (yes that’s correct) volunteers and not only transformed the department but the city itself.

We had Libby Wesley, who launched the Roots Cultural Festival, because she wanted to showcase the talents of children in the northwest and southwest neighborhoods and there was Norman Radin, who believed a derelict section north of Atlantic Avenue could be a cool place named Pineapple Grove. People thought Norman was nuts—Pineapple Grove was marred by vacant lots and vagrants.

The highlight of the street was a tire store and an old  McCrory’s department store. But Norman believed and before long so did others.

Spencer Pompey sought to integrate the public beach in Delray and drew national attention to his efforts. Mr. Pompey and his wife Ruth were dedicated to civil rights and deeply influenced a generation of leaders.

Vera Farrington wanted to preserve the history of the African American community and started a museum in the former home of a legendary black educator named Solomon Spady.

The list goes on…and Boca has had its share of visionaries too.

According to the Palm Beach County History Museum: “Tom Crocker worked with Boca Raton’s Community Development Agency to replace the failed Boca Raton Mall with a 28.7-acre mixed-use project, Mizner Park, completed in phases throughout the 1990s. Today the center includes 272 homes, a public promenade and park, stores and restaurants, 262,000 square feet of office space, a movie theater, the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater, the Centre for the Arts, and the Boca Raton Museum of Art.”

Prior to the creation of Mizner Park, there were 73 housing units downtown and office rents were the lowest in Palm Beach County.

With voter approval, the City of Boca Raton spent $50 million in infrastructure improvements and $68 million in bond financing to make the project feasible.

It wasn’t easy…controversies resulted in new state laws, a restructuring of the city’s government, higher local taxes, lawsuits, and heavy city debt.

But Mizner Park fulfilled its promise as a stimulant for downtown redevelopment. By 2002, there were 689 housing units downtown and 900 more under construction, and office rents were the highest in South Florida. The resulting 14-fold increase in assessed property values from 1990 to 2002 improved the city’s tax base, although the timing initially proved to be poor economically.

After property values rose again in 2005 Mizner Park started paying for itself. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized Mizner Park for removing a blighted property while creating a dynamic meeting place for the community.

Not bad. Sometimes progress takes a while. Sometimes a vision has to struggle before it takes root.

When a community embraces ideas, appreciates passion, works together on a common vision and understands that there is a difference between investment and spending—you begin to see change.

You begin to see value created before your eyes and that momentum builds additional momentum and encourages others to try and create things.

The best leaders I have observed are those who are creators and builders—people who embrace change, but also protect and promote  values and traditions.

It’s not enough to sit on a dais and judge. We need elected officials who seek to understand and build their communities. We need leaders who understand they have a responsibility to create jobs and opportunity and to position their cities for the future.

It’s not enough to sit on your couch and criticize or complain on social media. We need citizens  to organize around positive change. We need citizens who vote, write letters to the editor, blog, join, give, mentor and volunteer.

And most of all, we need citizens to fall in love.

When they fall head over heels— we’ve seen it and experienced it—change becomes easier to digest. It also becomes easier to shape too.

Passion, positivity and vision attract investment—the best kind too.

When investors show up to fund a community’s vision you can actually celebrate your success. Imagine that, feeling good about progress because it advances the dreams, goals and aspirations of citizens.

I see exhaustion in both Delray and Boca—long meetings, campaigns that are negative and development projects met with derision and dread.

Perhaps, it is because we are lacking a unifying vision and so we find ourselves reactive—liking some things, hating others; fixating on numbers—too tall, too dense but neglecting important things like design, affordability and uses that create a sustainable community.

The end result is always division; not consensus, excitement, pride or unity. We set up a system that has winners and losers and whether we win or lose we are exhausted by the fight. And there’s always a fight.

Debates and disagreements are inevitable. Cities are messy places. But I believe—when you are in service to a citizen driven vision—that those disagreements become fewer and your debates more focused.

Just a thought…but it all comes down to leadership and love of community.

 

Thanks Joe

Mr. Debonair

Mr. Debonair

Editor’s Note: Joe Gillie officially retired this week as President and CEO of Old School Square. A celebration of his legacy will be held Nov. 7 at Old School Square. To get tickets visit https://delraycenterforthearts.org/

 

I remember the first time I met Joe Gillie.

It was 25 years ago and he was a board member at Old School Square, which at the time was a fledgling experiment in a town trying desperately to change its narrative.

It was 1990 and Delray Beach was a very different place. In March, the city held a landmark election and elected a slate of candidates who promised to reform government, bring stability to City Hall and implement what was being called a “Decade of Excellence.”

The 80s had been a rough decade for Delray, also known as “Dullray” back then. The city had serious crime issues, the downtown had major vacancies and the crack cocaine epidemic had engulfed entire neighborhoods. But there were signs of hope all around. Visions 2000 brought people together, there were plans to reform schools, a new CRA was doing good things, historic districts were being established and the Decade of Excellence Bond passed with huge voter support, promising over $20 million in needed improvements and beautification.

A year later a visionary police chief was hired and a new chamber president too. It was a time of hope and promise and Old School Square was at the forefront of civic endeavors charged with being a catalyst for downtown revitalization.

Two years after I met Joe, he became President of Old School Square. By 1993, he was in charge of our first bid for an All America City Award and when I say he was in charge, he was in charge.

Joe managed every detail using his theatre background to craft a presentation that literally blew the judges in Tampa away. I recently found archival footage of that event and it was remarkable to see our diversity and spirit in action—and it was remarkable to see Joe’s leadership at its most impactful.

He incorporated young and old, black and white, east and west into a team. In baseball they call it clubhouse chemistry; that intangible that makes champions. Joe was the architect of that chemistry and the vehicle was the All America City Competition.

When you view the footage from that event, you see a young Mayor Tom Lynch, civic giants like C. Spencer Pompey, dedicated city staff like Lula Butler and Dorothy Ellington, residents like John Tallentire and Sandra Almy and you just marvel at the energy, spirit, humor and camaraderie. There was trust among neighbors, people loved their city and trusted their local government enough to go millions of dollars in debt in order to achieve a vision.

Old School Square itself was a big risk, and you can see in founder Frances Bourque’s eyes her trust and belief in a young Joe Gillie to pull off a vision that if successful would mark a huge turning point in the city’s rich history.

In hindsight, winning that first All America City Award was the propellant we needed as a community to tell the world that things in Delray were changing and we were serious about lifting up all parts of our community.

Joe Gillie was at the forefront of those efforts. He, along with many many others, helped to win two All America City Awards and we became the first city in Florida to do so.

But Joe was our captain. In Joe, we trusted. He kept this city focused, laughing and moving forward through good times and challenging times.

Joe was a different kind of leader. He wasn’t walled off in some office, he could be found in the trenches, usually with a broom in those early days, but always with a larger than life personality that greeted patrons, promoted shows, programs and classes and always talked up the larger goal which was building community through culture.

We hear, often, how people are replaceable. How no one person is larger than the mission or more important than the enterprise. Part of that old saw is true, except that people are not replaceable.

There will be people who serve as President of what is now called the Delray Center for the Arts and hopefully they will do a great job in the role. But there will never be another Joe Gillie. He’s an original; a Delray original by way of Virginia.

In August, I attended a surprise party for Joe at Smoke. It’s not easy to surprise Joe, but it happened. Many of his friends were there and it was a wonderful night, full of memories and laughs, but with Joe in the room there is always talk about the future.

Joe is departing from his role, but he’s not retiring. He’s a creative force and creative beings don’t stop inventing and innovating. He will act. He will sing. He will write. He will paint and he will continue to be a vibrant and positive force in our community.

During the party a loop of old photos ran on the wall in back of Smoke. Joe looking dapper in a tux. Joe with hair. Joe and me and Gary Eliopoulos dressed as rappers (Joe is the only guy who could get me to do that or to get Diane, my wife to sing Rodgers and Hammerstein songs with localized lyrics at a roast in front of 450 people). Joe made us believe. His time here was magical—pure magic. How lucky we have been.