Event: Clarissa St Reunion

Location

Outside

Bottomliner

Everyone

When

• Sat 8/15/2015, 10:00am-9:30pm

Prior to the turbulent 1960's and the advent of urban renewal, Clarissa Street, which is located in the old 3rd Ward, was a true melting pot that witnessed the friendly intermingling of Blacks, Irish, Jews and Italians. The streets were cobblestone. Trolley cars, similar to those in San Francisco, were a familiar sight in the 1940's.The neighborhood had everything from a hotel, a deli, a bakery, a meat market, friendly neighborhood pubs, a billiard hall, a public school, restaurants that specialized in New Orleans cuisine and southern style cooking, a YMCA, ice cream parlors, a Fraternal Lodge, beauty salons, barber shops, churches, a funeral home, a community newspaper and the Pythodd Club that catered to some of the greatest names in jazz during the late 1940's, 1950's and 1960's

The neighborhood doctors; Anthony L. Jordan and Charles Lunsford, would make house calls on a moments notice, despite inclement weather or a family financial status. The police officers who patrolled the main beat were known on a first name basis and very seldom did anyone lock their doors at night. Surrogate parents were in abundance and it behooved children to take heed when spoken to by an adult. Of course, with passing times, things change. Today, one would be hard pressed to recognize the old neighborhood. The Clarissa Street Bridge has been renamed the Ford Street Bridge. Bronson Avenue, which starts at Clarissa Street and runs to Genesee Street, is now called Dr. Samuel McCree Way. The historical Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, where Rev. Rose, Boddie and Johnson used to preach fire and brimstone, is dwarfed by a new church. The Parking lot for the new church occupies the same space where LaRues bar (formerly Sullivans), the Gibson House (Rochester's only Black owned hotel), and Vallots Restaurant once stood. Clarenton Street and parts of Tremont and Edinburgh are but memories. Dan's Tavern later known as Sheps. The Pythodd Club succumbed to urban renewal and Latimer's Funeral Home, (Rochester's oldest Black owned business), moved from Clarissa Street to Plymouth Avenue at least 30 years ago. There are many more examples, but the picture should be very clear.

However, there are two bastions of familiarity on Clarissa Street that remains unscathed, which is the Flower City Lodge AKA the Elks, which is now occupied by the Flying Community Space and Sheps which is now called Clarissa.

In 1995, when former 3rd Ward residents: Ron Houston, Hubert (Jiggy) Jeffries, Susie Boyd, Helen Brown, Jocqualene Banks and Lonnie Davis, gathered at the Elks to celebrate the homecoming of their lifetime friend; Anna (Licata) Terrell, who had been out of town for years. Quicker than you can say, Jackie Robinson, the group was going down memory lane. Before long, the group was outside strolling down Clarissa Street, trying to identify various landmarks that had been an integral part of the neighborhoods history in years gone by. When the group got to Atkinson Street, who used to cut a real mean step on the dance floor said,“I can remember many a street dance taking place here." Wouldn't it be nice if we could go back to those days again?”

As if rehearsed, according to Ron Houston, everyone chimed in. Subsequently, meetings were set up and group members met at each others house, until the Elks (where else) was selected as the permanent meeting site. After approaching city officials for a permit for a street dance, the group discovered that certain city ordinances would prohibit an event of that nature if the crowd exceeded a certain number. The next best thing, of course, was a festival.

Helen Brown recalls that the group felt a little disappointed at first and felt that the magnitude of such an undertaking would be overwhelming, until the feisty Susie Boyd said; The hell with it, you only go around once, let's do it!? Five others were called, John Ashford, Joan Coles Howard, Alton Owens, Joyce Allen and Gloria Winston Al-Sarag. The adrenalin began to flow as a result of Susie's encouragement, the fired up group elected officers and enlisted the help of consultants and volunteers, and Eureka the Clarissa Street Reunion Committee was born. Coinciding with their plans, the city offered encouragement and some financial support. The Reunion Committee was able to solicit support from Wegmans and the Rochester Gas & Electric Company. Vendors of all sorts were invited to purchase booths at a reasonable cost. Jocqualene Banks and Helen Brown were quick to point out that committee members had to dip into their own pockets to defray those expenses not covered by sponsorship.

The first reunion was held on Saturday, August 24, 1996. The first reunion attracted more than 10,000 people. Many come from as far away as Hawaii, California and Arizona. Presentations were made to Roy McCurdy, a hometown boy who went on to become one of the greatest jazz drummers in the world. The community's desire to support student scholarship was clearly in evidence, when it gave a scholarship to a student from the Rochester School of Music.Brother Jack McDuff, world famous jazz organist who used to perform at the old Pythodd Club, was the headline act for the first festival. To the surprise of the Reunion Committee, the tremendous success of the festival far exceeded its wildest dreams. According to Jiggy Jeffries, the committee's first president, people in attendance were hollering to do it again. With each passing year, the Clarissa Street Reunion continues to gain in stature and is compared favorable with the Cornhill and Park Avenue Festivals, as one of the most popular and eagerly awaited events of its kind in upper New York State.