“One Big Community” – The Sophomore Return of the Denny’s Orange Blossom Classic

Ashley Bell - Ready Life, Phaedra Parks - TV Personality, Rashan Ali - TV Personality, Dajé - Recording Artist, Cortez Bryant, Music Mogul.

By Dixie Black

(Highlights were supplied by Elora Mason of E. Mason & Associates).

JSU Coach Deion Sanders, Orange Blossom Classic Committee Executive Director Kendra Bulluck-Major, FAMU Coach Willie Simmons at the Pre-game Press Conference.

The Labor Day weekend was ignited by the energy of nearly 40,000 fans at the Hard Rock Stadium, Sunday September 4th. The football game between Florida A&M (FAMU) Rattlers and Jackson State (JSU) Tigers was the culmination of a power packed weekend of social, educational, and economic impact, brought about by the 2022 Orange Blossom Classic.

Orange Blossom Classic (OBC) Executive Director, Kendra Bulluck-Major secured exclusive rights to the OBC in 2011. It took ten years to bring this football classic back to reality, COVID notwithstanding. Under her direction, the classic was reborn in 2021 after a 43-year hiatus. Her vision for OBC is clear: increase buy-in by corporate partners and stakeholders in order to continually expose youth to HBCU culture, and to increase the positive economic impact of this culture in the community.

Looking back through the weekend we will find stepping stones to this purpose. On Thursday, thousands of fans, alums, HBCU students, and sports enthusiasts arrived in South Florida to experience the action both on and off the field, the four-day weekend kick-offed with HBCU Music Mogul Cortez Bryant hosting the annual OBC Golf Tournament, a fundraising event for both participating universities.

 

JSU Shedeur Sanders, Kendra Bulluck Major, Former NFL Standout Edgerrin James, JSU Travis Hunter at the Players & Coaches Dinner presented by Ready Life

Friday, The Greater Miami Convention Visitors Bureau Commissioner’s Welcome Reception and Luncheon presented by Florida Power and Light celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the Year of the Woman, honoring exceptional HBCU alumnae in Sports, Politics, and Entertainment and providing a pivotal opportunity to reach further fundraising goals for the Orange Blossom Classic scholarship fund.

Saturday saw the epic Battle of the Bands. FAMU’s Marching 100’s squared off against JSU’s Sonic Boom to entertain with precision marching, musicianship, and a deep display of heritage of HBCU marching bands. Nearly 6,000 fans gathered at the University of Miami Watsco Center for a magnificent showcase of talent from high school bands from the tri-county area and a preview of the mighty FAMU Marching 100 and the Jackson State Sonic Boom during the sold out AEA Battle of the Bands.

In addition to the football game on Sunday, the weekend of events featured appearances from notables such as Grammy award winner Ledisi, actress Rashan Ali, comedian Roy Wood Jr, Congresswoman Fredricka Wilson, State Representative Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall, Edgerrin James, U.S. Senator Val Demings, Bravo reality TV star Phaedra Parks, music mogul Cortez Bryant, NFL pro bowl Chad Johnson, AJ Calloway recording artists Uncle Luke, Ballgreezy, Fredo Bang, Wallo, Gillie da Kid and more.

There was a Denny’s gameday fanfest presented by Ready Life Games along with a recruitment fair for players and the community. This event was hosted by the title sponsor Denny’s. April Kelly-Drummond and Denny’s president John Dillon attended and supported the OBC’s events. Kelly-Drummond, head of Diversity Equity & Inclusion for Denny’s pointed out the potential impact of the sponsorship activities. In addition to providing meals for the competing teams and working with local organizations in the area such as ‘Health In The Hood’, Denny’s hungry for education scholarship program gives out $340,000 in scholarships each year. Denny’s also partners with several organizations through the Tom Joyner Foundation to provide funds that assist families with education, disability needs and more. Denny’s also has career and franchise opportunities available.  Of the over 1600 restaurants 61 percent are minority owned. Kelly-Drummond made it clear that Denny’s, through their scholarships, partnerships and hunger initiatives, is deeply invested in African American and Hispanic communities. She sums it up as follows:

“We feed mind, body and soul.”

 

Orange Blossom Classic Committee water drive in the City of Miami Gardens for Jackson, MS

Despite the unique hardships both schools faced heading into the weekend, the teams arrived in South Florida with a clear focus. This showed as student-athletes Shedeur Sanders, Devonta Davis from JSU, and Nadarius Fagan, Xavier Smith from FAMU, joined their Coaches, Deion Sanders and Willie Simmons for the pre-game press conference moderated by Don Jackson at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Former Rattler Congressman Al Lawson and Jackson State alumni Congressman Benni Thompson were named honorary captains for this year’s game. Jackson State Tigers came away with another victory, leaving the on-field rivalry to continue.

In reviewing Kendra Bulluck-Major’s vision we find a plethora of sponsors who ran with the challenge of having buy-in by corporate sponsors. This year’s Orange Blossom Classic was backed by the sponsorships of Denny’s, Ready Life, FPL, Celsius, Orange Bowl, Cricket, FSF, Miami Gardens, SGWS, Greater Miami Conventions Visitor Bureau, Pepsi, Visit Lauderdale, Lowe’s, Wells Fargo, AEA, GT Law, Tobacco Free, Bacardi, AARP and Amazon.

Bulluck-Major’s goal to bring community and HBCU culture to the forefront also showed in the water drive to help Mississippi residents.  While the players focused on the big game, the Orange Blossom Classic delivered on its pillar of community impact, orchestrating a bottled water donation drive. With the generous support of South Florida residents heading the call to action, lining up Saturday morning to drop off over 2,000 cases of bottled water to load up the Jackson State equipment trailer to transport back to Jackson, Mississippi residents.

Finally, the weekend events’ economic impact did not disappoint the South Florida community; the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau forecasted the impact of DOBC to beat the $12 million mark in 2021 as attendees descended upon South Florida for a weekend of events focused on community, education, empowerment, and family fun.

 

Phaedra Parks, TV Personality & sons at the GMCVB Welcome Reception and Kickoff Luncheon Presented by FPL

If you missed The Remix of this year’s Denny’s Orange Blossom Classic (DOBC) Presented by Ready Life, catch the replay of the game and halftime show featuring the FAMU Marching 100 and JSU’s Sonic Boom on ESPN plus.

About Carma Henry 24481 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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