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| Volume XXV, Number 9 | July 2, 2004 |
By Shelley Marmor
HOLLYWOOD — On Monday June 14, The Seminole Tribe of Florida joined the ranks with more than 3,000 Boys & Girls Club’s of America across the U.S. On this day, the tribe broke ground on what would soon be the 175th Boys & Girls Club in Indian Country.
According to event MC Jo North, the Boys & Girls Club of The Seminole Tribe of Florida will replace the Hollywood Gym. She said the gym will likely be torn down in the next few months, and she hopes to have the Boys & Girls Club completed in 2005.
“ It's not one of those projects where you see the coming soon sign and nothing happens,” said North, Chief Professional Officer for the Boys & Girls Club of The Seminole Tribe of Florida.
In addition to the speakers from the tribe–Miss Seminole Cherelee Hall, Max Osceola Jr., David DeHass, and Mitchell Cypress–guest speakers Robbie Callaway, senior vice president of the Boys & Girls Club of America, and Leatrice “Chick” Big Crow from the SuAnne Big Crow Boys & Girls Club on the Sioux Indian reservation in Pine Ridge, S.D., also attended the groundbreaking.
Both guest speakers said they were happy to see another Native American tribe open a Boys & Girls Club. Big Crow said she was “really glad to see another tribe on board,” and Callaway commended The Seminole Tribe’s commitment to the youth.
“ These people, like all I’ve met in Indian Country, care about their children,” Callaway said.
He said he successfully secured $50,000 to put towards the construction efforts. Callaway added that he is willing to work hard to get the same dollar amount to open Boys & Girls Club facilities on both the Big Cypress and Brighton reservations.
Max Osceola Jr., Chairman of the Boys & Girls Club of The Seminole Tribe of Florida, echoed Callaway’s commitment to the children.
“ We wanted to do something to help our children,” Osceola said. “We wanted to prepare them for the non-Indian as well as Indian world.”
He said he was sorry to see the Hollywood Gym being torn down, however, added that the gym is more than three decades old, and saying “it’s served its purpose.”
Osceola also said that the Boys & Girls Club, by offering many activities for youth to participate in, including sports and arts and crafts, will help raise the amount of physical activity children engage in, as well as lower the numbers of children abusing illegal substances.
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